Fracture
by Zephyn
Summary: The prince has a secret. A secret that no one, not even the one he cares for most of all, knows about. He has kept this secret for a long time in order to protect her, but what is to be done, when, all of a sudden...his secret is loose? /Frozen AU (Updates Fridays!)
1. 0

**Well, well, well, what have we here? It was only a matter of time before I wrote some Homestuck fanfiction. This is the first time I've ever attempted to write fanfiction in the Homestuck department, so...I don't know how this is going to go.  
Anyways, this is a Frozen AU...crossover...thing...  
This first "chapter" is more like a prologue, sorta like a preview thingy I guess? Just testing the waters, I suppose. This is not gonna seem like a Frozen AU until the next chapter because that's when I'll actually start going by the movie.**

**Title: Fracture**  
**Rated: T**  
**Genre: Adventure/Family/Romance**  
**Disclaimer: Don't own Homestuck or any part of it. Cover image of Nepeta is by Maruta-chan6 on deviantART.**

**Anyway. Lemme know what you think.**

* * *

Prologue

Forests.

Lush, green forests full of life.

That was the first thing Karkat could remember.

As a boy, Karkat was always in the forests. His family were known as some of the best tree harvesters in the area, and he liked to tag along whenever his father went out for a job. Sometimes his older brother came too, but most of the time he preferred to read. He just wasn't as interested in the family business as Karkat was. His father didn't like that very much, but he didn't try to push his brother, he just tried…gentle encouraging. But because of this, Karkat always felt like his brother got more attention than he did.

He tried to seem as interested in tree harvesting as a boy possibly could, but he still had that feeling in his gut.

People were always comparing he and his brother to his father, as they looked very similar. They always said that it was like his father had just crafted two small clones of himself, instead of settling down and having children.

One day, his father had gotten a job offer from the royal family. It was nearing the holidays, and the princess wanted to have a fantastic Christmas tree, and, knowing the reputation that Karkat's father had, they enlisted him for the job.

Luckily, the area was full of evergreen and pine trees. He was confident in his father's ability to find the perfect one. After all, it was to make the little princess happy.

Karkat followed after his father with an excited gleam in his eyes. "Are we gonna get this one, Dad?" He craned his neck back as far as he could, looking up at the tall tree.

"You tell me," was all his father said. "Does it look healthy to you?" If Karkat was going to be a good tree harvester one day, he had to be able to tell a healthy tree from one that wasn't healthy.

The boy went to work immediately, running around and doing circles around the tree several times, trying to take in any detail he could. The bark looked alright, it wasn't peeling or anything, and he couldn't see any dead branches or leaves.

"It looks pretty healthy."

"Well, alright then. This is the tree that's going to the princess."

It took a long while to get the tree chopped down and onto the sleigh for transport. So long, that it was dark by the time they were heading home.

"Stay close, Karkat. I don't want you getting lost," his father warned, to which the boy nodded. He always made sure to be extra careful when it was dark.

Even though he was trying his best, the boy was tired. And when he was tired, he could look like he was sleepwalking.

And it for that very reason that Karkat lost his father that day.

"Dad? Dad, where are you?" Karkat called out, loud as he dared, for he didn't want to attract any unwanted creatures of the forest. He didn't know where his father had went, just a second go he was right in front of him. They were going to give the tree to the royal family…

He had to get out of this forest. He had to stop the frequent daydreaming. It only got him into trouble, and if he didn't find his father…

No, it wasn't good to think like that.

"Dad? Dad?!" His voice cracked as he raised it, and he thought he heard something in the bushes. "Dad?" Karkat was growing scared now, he tried to be brave, but it was all too much. He had never been separated from his father while they were in the forests. His father had told him about the kinds of creatures that lived in these woods, and remembering those stories frightened him…

He was growing tired, but he didn't want to stop looking for his father. What if he never found him? Surely his father was looking for him as well…

Karkat decided to take a short rest (only for a few minutes, though), so he sat down in an alcove in the wall. If any kind of creature was around, then it wouldn't be able to find him. Hopefully.

He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them. Where was his father? Why had he been…such a fool? Why did he have to daydream? Why didn't he just stay home? Several questions ran through the child's mind, and it was just…too much for him. He laid his head in his arms and let himself cry. He was brave for a little while, but now he just wanted his father. Now he was what he truly was: just a scared little boy crying for his daddy.

Karkat sniffled and looked up when he heard something. There was something out there, and it was watching him. He was tired. He didn't think he could be brave anymore. He merely looked out into the darkness, hoping that it was just a rabbit or small and harmless like that.

It wasn't a rabbit that emerged from the brush. It was a massive, white creature, who reminded Karkat of some type of shellfish. What was it doing in the woods? If it was shellfish, it made more sense for it to be near the water. Karkat didn't know if there were any lakes or ponds nearby, but he didn't rule out the possibility.

The creature seemed to have four eyes, but the two smaller ones didn't blink. Its larger eyes blinked at Karkat, and he shivered out of fear. Was this thing going to eat him? He'd never get to see his father or his brother again…

"Don't eat me!" he piped out, as brave as he could, but he sounded more like a terrified mouse. The creature tilted its head at the boy, and it blinked again. It didn't seem threatening. It seemed…curious. The creature took a few steps (it walked on two legs, moving in a strange fashion - it seemed to waddle even) toward him, and stopped when it was right in front of him.

Karkat stared the creature in the eye and tried to look like he posed a threat. The creature probably knew better, though.

For some reason, Karkat felt like he could trust this creature who appeared out of nowhere. It sniffed him, and at that moment he knew that it meant him no real harm.

Karkat's eyelids were heavy. He yawned, which made the creature tilt its head again.

"You can stay here, I guess. Keep me company, okay? I'm going to sleep now. Don't eat me in my sleep," he said to the creature, knowing that it couldn't voice a response. He laid down and tried to get as comfortable as he could on the naked earth, and before he drifted off to sleep, he could've sworn he heard scuttling.

The crab beast didn't know what he was doing. He had merely been walking throughout the words, with no particular purpose, when he stumbled upon a crying child. Why had he approached the child? He could have just left well enough alone.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. The crab beast crawled a bit closer to the child, as to keep him warm, for it was getting to be that time of year where it was getting much colder at night. He certainly didn't want the child to freeze to death.

Before the crab beast settled down to sleep, he made sure that the child was as comfortable as he could possibly be. He finally closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles, ready to rest after a tiring day.

He could've sworn he heard something, though. A human's voice, an adult male human, he was sure of it. 'Karkat!' he thought he heard the voice say. Whoever that human was, he sounded very distressed. The crab beast elected to ignored him and put all of his attention on getting some rest.

'Karkat!' the voice said. 'Karkat! Karkat, where are you?! Karkat!'


	2. I

I.

Several months had passed, and though Karkat was still merely a boy, he was a changed boy. He never did find his father again, even though he tried the best he could. It was okay though, in a way he was happy because he made a new friend in the strange crab creature.

The crab beast quickly became a new father-like figure for the boy (which was weird, considering it was some kind of mutated animal). He protected Karkat, and he looked out for him. He knew all the safest places to sleep, and he knew all the best things to eat.

He could never replace Karkat's real father, though.

One day while the two of them were out foraging, they came across something…strange. Two strange things. Two strange someones. They looked human, but at the same time they couldn't be anything remotely close to human. There was a tall one and a shorter one, the tall one was a boy and the shorter one was a girl. What threw Karkat off the most was the fact that these two had horns coming out of their skulls. They also had gray skin, but the horns are what really got Karkat's attention.

Other than the horns and the skin, they looked relatively human. They had black hair as a human might, but Karkat couldn't see the color of their eyes because they were turned away from he and his crab friend. He noted that their horns were large, and he could remember that his father had taught him about certain animals that had horns. In the animals, larger horns often meant that the animal was older. He wondered if it were the same for these people.

He was just planning to observe the strange people for a little while longer, but he must have made a sound or something, because the shorter one, the woman, turned and she saw him. His eyes widened and he was about to make a run for it, but the crab beast he called his friend had taken action when she started to approach, the boy following her with a curious look in his eyes. The crab monster leaped in front of Karkat and took on a defensive stance, letting out some kind of growl that sounded a bit like a rusty screech.

The woman raised her hands in a surrendering gesture. "Whoa there, friend. I'm not going to hurt you, or your boy." As she spoke, the man walked around her and gave a glare to the crab beast, a defensive one just like the creature had.

The crab wouldn't let up with his growling, and Karkat was getting worried. He didn't want his friend to attack her. Even though she was small in stature, she could likely put up a good fight, and he didn't want his friend to get hurt.

"Shh." She turned her hand to face him, and then the oddest thing started to happen. Her hand started to glow. It was glowing a purplish color, and for whatever reason her hand glowing made the crab beast calm down. The crab backed up a bit so he was next to Karkat again, and Karkat put one of his hands on the crab's hide, to let him know that he was okay.

Once he assessed the situation, and deemed it safe, the man's eyes became much more gentle looking. He cleared his throat. "Now that that whole ordeal is over, do you want to tell us how you managed to get a lusus? Humans don't get lusii. Unless you're a troll in disguise."

"No, he's definitely a human child."

"Lusus? Trolls? What?" Karkat piped up, eager to get answers. Whatever they were talking about seemed really interesting. Was that what they were, trolls? And they seemed to be talking about his crab friend whenever they said that other word, 'lusus'…was that what he was? A lusus?

To cut things short, Karkat ended up staying with those people. He learned that they were indeed trolls, and his crab friend was indeed a type of animal that they called a lusus. The lusii were very rare nowadays, and they usually only took care of young trolls, but Karkat seemed to be the only exception. Learning that fact made him feel kind of special.

The two of them ended up taking up residency with the trolls. He had met many other trolls, but the man and the woman were those who he trusted the most, besides his crab friend of course.

Karkat tried to remain as he was, but he was still plagued by memories of his father and his brother. He missed them dearly. Even though it was nice to have new friends, they just couldn't fill the void that was left by his family.

One day, the female troll, who he had learned went by the name of Timorous (a strange name, yes, but who was he to judge), had approached him. She offered to take away the memories of Karkat's family for him, so he wouldn't hurt anymore. Karkat didn't know how to feel about this offer. He had learned that she could use the types of magic he had only read about in books. That's how she got his crab lusus to calm down when they had first met. She used a simple spell that would relax him, so she could prove that she wasn't a threat.

Karkat couldn't bear to part with the memories of his family. It hurt yes, but he loved them. Even his brother, who was kind of annoying at times.

But Timorous, oh Timorous…she went to the child while he was asleep one night, and she did something that she would never forgive herself for.

But this story is not about Karkat. He is a major player in this game of chess, but he is not the king, nor the queen. No, in this particular game of chess, Karkat was merely a knight.

This story is about a prince. This story is about a prince, and it is about how the love of one princess was able to save this prince. The princess was able to save the prince from himself, from the horrible void that threatened to consume him.

It was a few days after the events regarding Karkat and his memories, and it was late at night. In a castle, far away from where Karkat was living with his new troll friends, it was quiet as its own little world was frozen, all of its inhabitants asleep.

Except…for young Nepeta. Nepeta, the younger heir to Alternia's fair throne, always had trouble falling asleep. She always felt like she was missing something when she was asleep, and her boundless energy didn't help at all.

She peeked her head over her brother's bed, calling out in her little voice, "Equius?"

Equius was her older brother. He was the prince, and was first heir to the throne. He would be the king someday.

Nepeta climbed up onto his bed, shaking his shoulders, trying to rouse him. She called his name a few more times, quietly, as not to wake their parents or any of the castle's many servants.

"Nepeta?" Equius asked in a groggy voice. "Nepeta, what's wrong?"

"You have to wake up! Let's go play!"

"Nepeta, do you know what time it is? Go back to sleep."

"I can't! I have to play!"

"Then go play by yourself." Equius shoved her off of his bed, as gently as he possibly could. He normally wouldn't be so harsh to her, but he was tired and he was getting frustrated.

Nepeta was sitting on the floor, trying to think of something that would get her brother up. It took her a minute or so, but she thought of something that he always loved to do, no matter what. She climbed back up on his bed.

"Do you wanna build a robot?"

"Nepeta, quiet! You'll wake the whole castle," Equius scolded, trying to get his sister to be a bit more quiet. But he knew that she couldn't help it. She was just a little girl with an endless amount of energy.

She stopped running with him when they reached the gates that would lead them outside, in the small garden that they liked to play in.

"Do it! Do the thing!"

"Alright, calm down. Come here." He had Nepeta stay close to him, before he went to work. He was just a child, but he could do wonders with the strange powers he was born with. He raised his hands up and Nepeta watched with pure glee as the earth itself rose out of the ground. Equius was able to create a slide formation, and he managed to smooth it out by causing the rock to soften itself. Of course, it was still sturdy.

Equius created a playground for them to play on in a matter of minutes. It was a needless task, really.

They had then decided to get out the tools and actually try to build a little robot. Though it took them many hours of the night, they did end up creating one. Of course, it wasn't alive in any way (Equius hadn't figured out how to do that part yet), but they could pretend.

"Hi, I'm the Mayor and I like warm hugs!" Nepeta chimed out as she moved the robot's little arms around to mimic motion. Equius let out a chuckle at his sister's actions. The robot they had created was perfect. He was dressed like a commoner, but that all part of his charm. Living up to his name, he had a metallic sash around him that said 'Mayor'. Nepeta wasn't sure what he was mayor of, but she was sure that he would have been a good mayor, if he was ever alive.

Equius' powers were a strange thing indeed. Not only could he manipulate the earth as he so chose, he also had some sort of control over sound waves, as when he raised his voice too loud the vibrations created small fissures everywhere. It was for this reason Equius tried to remain calm at all times.

But that wasn't the end of it. He could create things out of nothing. He muttered about a thing he called 'the void' sometimes, so everyone assumed that that particular branch of his powers had something to do with that. But he couldn't use it carelessly. He had to have some sort of ulterior motive, as the void was a stubborn thing, but it was apparently willing to compromise with the prince whenever his sister was involved.

Nepeta hopped around, and Equius created pillars that she could safely land on. The void was being unusually cooperative on that day, so Equius was having no real trouble creating soft, pillow-like pillars for his sister to hop to and from. But there was a problem. Nepeta was moving much too fast. Equius tried warning her, but she must not have heard him, or she was just caught up in the moment…

He wasn't able to make a pillar in time. He quickly became distressed, and the earth around him became much softer than it normally was. Because of this, when he tried to create pillar, he slipped. The blast that he had already shot went at a horrible angle, and it hit Nepeta in the side of her head. She let out a cry of anguish, and she tumbled down, but luckily she had landed in the soft grass.

Equius immediately rushed to her side, yet he was afraid to touch her for a brief moment. Despite his fears, he had to make sure she was okay. He scooped her up so he was holding her head in his lap, and he repeated the phrase 'I'm sorry' over and over. The prince almost started crying at that moment, but then he noticed that a light blue streak of color had etched its way into his sister's black hair.

It was the same blue as his void powers.

The void had infected his sister. And he had let it done its damage.

This was…this was all his fault.

"Help!" he called out to his parents, as loud as he could. The fact that something horrible was happening to his sister outweighed the fear of being caught by their parents. As he held his sister close, he let his tears escape him, and his shoulders shook as he cried. At his feet, there were small fissures in the earth. They edged out further and further, and those fissures even made the little robot they had made together collapse onto itself.

He didn't care though. He called out to his parents again, his voice shaking.

"Equius? Equius, what have you done?!" That was his father, who managed to counter the stress the void had put on the door, and he got the door open. Their mother was there too, and once her eyes processed what was going on, she rushed over and took Nepeta from Equius.

"It was an accident!" Equius pleaded, but he knew that it probably didn't matter.

"She's not moving, she's completely stiff!" his mother muttered, possibly trying to make sure that he didn't hear, but he did, and he knew exactly what that meant.

"We don't have much time. Come on, I know where we have to go!"

Karkat had been out in the forest gathering sticks for campfire when he heard the sounds of horse hooves. He was alone; he had finally convinced his lusus that he was old enough to go out on his own. He hid himself away, and two horses rushed back. He didn't get a good look at the people who were riding them, but he could tell that there was a very tense aura around them. They were heading in the direction of his home.

Why were they going there? He didn't know, but he wanted to know, so he dropped the sticks he had gathered, and ran after those horses, while still remaining unnoticeable.

When he got back home, he saw the people who were on the horses. It was a man and woman, and there was a boy with them. The woman seemed to holding something, or someone.

"Please, help me! My daughter…" the man called out. What was wrong with his daughter?

Karkat was about to leave his hiding place and confront them, but he was stopped by one of his troll friends.

"Karkat, stay back," the troll warned. "Timorous will take care of them." Karkat trusted the troll's judgment, so he stayed in his hiding spot and observed what was going on.

Timorous had appeared, out of nowhere it seemed, and so had the male troll (his name was Vehement) that always seemed to be with her. "My king." They bowed to him.

So he was the king. Then the woman must have been the queen, and the boy was the prince.

"Was he born with the powers or cursed with them?" Timorous asked, taking a hold of Equius' hand, though the boy was nervous about it. He was surprised though, when his enhanced strength didn't seem to have any effect on her.

"Born," the king said after a moment. "And they're getting stronger."

"Dex knows more about these particular types of cases…" she muttered. "Here, bring the child here." The queen brought the bundle she held closer to Timorous. Ah. There was the princess. She noted that she had a blue streak in her hair, and she could safely assume that she was not born with it.

"Will she be okay?" the queen asked. Worry and doubts were starting to set in, more so then they had before.

"I can save her, but I suggest that…that we remove all sources of the void from her head." Timorous went to work immediately, reworking Nepeta's memories so she wouldn't be able to remember the events that transpired that night. "Don't worry, I'll make it seem like you two were merely playing. Just normal child activities. She'll be okay, don't worry."

The three of them looked Nepeta over, noticing that she let out a pleasant humming sound. She must have been in the middle of a good dream, and with the new memories added in, it was probably even better.

"She won't remember I have these powers?" Equius asked.

"It's for the best," his father said.

"Equius, I must tell you. I would have Dex do it but he is not here at this moment in time. These powers you have. They are…wondrous. They are a miracle of nature, but they are also very dangerous." Timorous paused for a minute, and Equius' face became full of fear. He didn't want to hurt anyone else every again, and especially not Nepeta. "You must learn to control them, and you mustn't let fear take over. Do not let the void control you, as you are capable of controlling it."

"He can learn how! In time, he will master his powers," the king said, trying to give his wife and son some sense of hope. "Until then…"

The king took immediate action. He had the staff of the castle reduced, and he limited Equius' contact with others to only he and the queen. No one was to know of his powers until he learned to control them. Though it didn't seem one hundred percent right, Equius didn't argue. He didn't want to risk Nepeta's safety ever again.

His powers became a closely guarded secret. He was to keep them hidden from everyone, and that included Nepeta.

When her brother nearly slammed his door in her face for the first time, Nepeta's green eyes were wide, and she felt like she would cry. A question ran through her head, a single word that would continue to plague her long into the future.

_Why?_

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**And that's a wrap. Good place to end it, yeah?**  
**For the rock trolls, I literally just used some of my fantrolls. I couldn't think of anything else. The only problem is that these trolls in particular are ancestors, and I couldn't think of any other names, so I just used their "titles", or whatever the ancestor's names are called. I tried not to describe anyone too much, not just them, so that way you can imagine the characters as you'd like. I know everyone has different headcanons for humanstuck things and whatnot.**


	3. II

II.

Nepeta never really did figure out why Equius flat-out refused to have anything to do with her. All he did was hole himself up in his room all day, and that was such a waste it made the princess want to cry. Whenever she asked her parents about it, they would only respond with "it's just a phase" and "give him time". It confused her to no end, but that didn't mean that she would give up on her dear brother.

Every few days she would approach his bedroom's door, and with a knock would chime in her cheery voice: "Equius? Do you wanna build a robot?"

Each and every one of these attempts was met with a harsh "Go away!" from the other side of the door. The first time it happened, she thought she had misheard. Building robots was one of Equius' favorite things to do. They would always bond through such an activity, and they would even come up with adventures for the robots to partake in.

It hurt, yes, and it did discourage her a little, but she would not give up. One day, she would get Equius to come out of his room, and it would be just like old times. Until then, she would just keep trying.

"Equius, here, these will help." The king said one day as he slipped gloves onto his son's hands. "I realize we have no way of knowing for sure, but we'll never know if we don't try."

"Alright, I'll give it a try…" Equius could trust his father, and he felt like wearing gloves all the time would help him, even a little. His father used to be an inventor, too, so he surely had some idea of what he was doing.

Ever since the queen had passed away, his father found himself with Equius more and more, trying so desperately to help the boy control his powers.

Nepeta, on the contrary, was trying her best to deal with life without her brother or her mother. Her father was hardly around, too. He was often with Equius, in his room, and she had no idea what they could be doing in there.

Still, Nepeta tried her best to find outlets for her creative energies. She took up drawing, and she even wrote a little, but there was still that hole in her heart where her brother used to be. She interacted with everything and everyone in the castle, from the knight statues to even dragging the servants (she noticed there were less of them for some reason…) into her games.

"Father…look at this…" Equius muttered, glancing around his room. His desk was overturned, and there were cracks in the dry wall all around. Where he stood, small fractures were forming in the floor.

A dark bluish shadow surrounded the boy. This is what happened when he got too upset. He would break something, but then the void would come to the rescue, providing some sort of comfort where his parents could not. "What am I supposed to do? I…I'm scared!"

"Equius, you need to calm down…" his father said to him, in as gentle a voice as he could muster. The king was always very cautious around his son when…the void, as he called it, would spiral out of control like this. When it would physically manifest itself. Ever since the boy lost his mother, it was getting harder each and every day.

He knew that if Equius didn't get a hold of his emotions, he would never be able to control the void. The female troll made it clear, he needed to learn, and he had the power to control it. But if he never learned…well, then it would simply just control him, as it always had. He took a careful step towards his boy, hands outstretched a bit, like he was offering a hug to his eldest heir.

"No!" Equius cried out, backing up further, away from his father and closer to the shadows that the void summoned around him. "Father, don't touch me! Please…I don't…I don't want it to hurt you…"

The void put more and more pressure on the young prince each passing day, and it didn't seem to be wanting to let up anytime soon. Both Equius and his father knew that the void wanted total control over him, but the prince was not willing to let that happen.

He didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of him.

Nepeta continued with her persistence, but she seemed to be becoming less and less interested in him as time went on. Either that, or she was losing hope. He hated what he was doing to her, but it was for her own good. And since her memories had been altered, she most likely assumed the worst.

He could only imagine what sort of things were running through his sister's head during those times. She probably thought that he completely abandoned her, or that he hated her…

But as time passed, he noticed that she visited his door less frequently. And he didn't know exactly how to feel, but it hurt nonetheless.

And when she stopped knocking all together, he knew that he had lost her.

It had been several years since then. Not very many moves were made on the fair chess board, but a very large one had been made that impacted our king and queen very much.

The former king had fallen. He had fallen ill one day, and he never recovered fully, even with the help of all the best doctors in Alternia. There was nothing that could be done, and the illness took the king's life.

Nepeta was devastated at the events that had transpired, but she was even more devastated that her brother had not attended the funeral. Her father often told her that he was sick, or that he was tired…but she could tell when she was being lied to. Equius had something against her, she just knew it. If only she knew what she had done, then she could correct it.

After the funeral, Nepeta took a lonely walk through the halls of the castle. Eventually, she found herself at Equius' door, and she knew at that moment that she wanted to try again. Maybe he would come out this time…

She raised her fist hesitantly, but she finally brought it down on the door and knocked. "Equius?" she said, quietly, but enough so she knew that he could hear her on the other side of the door. "Come on, I know you're in there…you couldn't even come to Dad's funeral? I don't know what's going on…or why you're decided to ignore me…but…I'm here. I will always be right here for you. I won't push you…when you're ready, you can come out…and then we can build robots again…"

Nepeta left after that. She felt tears forming in her eyes, but she wiped them away before they even had the chance to fall.

Equius, on the other hand, was right there on the opposite side of the door. He was sitting right at the door, and as he listened to what Nepeta had to say, he glanced around his room. His bed was broken into two (he would have to fix that later), and there were scattered clothes everywhere. He was dressed in black, and that familiar blue shadow was surrounding him. The void scattered itself around the young man's room, and he knew that it was only a matter of time.

While the former king had fallen, the new king would rise up and take his place like a glorious phoenix born out of the ashes. After a couple more years, Equius had decided that he couldn't put off his coronation any longer. It just didn't seem fair to the citizens…his citizens. He would never get used to that fact. This was his country now.

Karkat blew some of his black hair out of his face. He was in town buying food and supplies, and he didn't know exactly what was going on. The people in the town were running around like mad men and women, like little children. He rolled his eyes and put his attention back on what kind of food his dad might like.

"Shopping for your family, young man?" the vender asked, and Karkat glanced upwards at him. His rust-colored eyes, hopefully, answered the question for him. "Well, hurry up then. I have to close up soon."

"What the hell is going on? Why is everyone all over the place?" Karkat asked, paying for what he wanted.

"It's the king's coronation today. He's finally opening up the gates to the castle. The last time they were open was when he and his sister were children. Honestly, I'm surprised you don't know about it. It's all over the news."

"I'm not from around here."

"Well, everyone is welcome! So I've heard, the king has roughed out with age…but the princess is very friendly! She actually invited everyone, no matter where they're from!"

Karkat had heard a lot about this princess, about as much as he heard about the king…or was he still a prince, if he hadn't been crowned yet? Bah. Royalty confused him. He gave his thanks to the vender for being patient, and then he headed out of the town, back into the woods where his dad and his friends would be waiting.

As he got closer and closer to the border of the town, he kept picking up bits and pieces of varies conversations.

"I can't wait to see the princess! I bet she's beautiful, and the king must be so handsome, despite his ruggedness!"

"They're opening the gates for the whole day! Hurry up!"

If he didn't know why he stayed out of town for the most part, he did now. The people bored him, and if they didn't bore him, they scared him a little.

Though, they spoke of their king with great respect, even though they had apparently never seen him since he was a boy. And as for the princess…

He kept walking. It wasn't something that he should be worrying about. His dad and his friends were waiting, and he knew he would get an earful from Dad if he was late.

There was a knock at Nepeta's door. "Princess Nepeta?" She could hear the voice, it was one of the servants, but she was still asleep as far as anyone was concerned. Still, the voice persisted, and the servant was knocking again.

Nepeta sat up and rubbed the sleepiness out of her green eyes. "Yeah? Whad'ya want?" She yawned.

"It's time to get ready!" The servant said, his voice awfully chipper. She never understood how people could be so chipper this early in the morning.

"Ready? Ready for what…?" She had gotten out of bed, wandering around her room, still half-asleep. She made her way over to her vanity and started to work the bed head out of her hair.

"Uh, for your brother's coronation…"

"My brother's…" Suddenly, Nepeta remembered why she had to be woken up so early. Equius' coronation was today! Her eyes went wide, all traces of sleepiness left in that moment. "His coronation! It's coronation day! I'll be out in a minute!"

Nepeta ran down the halls as fast as her legs would carry her. The gates would be opening soon, and that meant that she could leave the castle grounds! She could only vaguely remember leaving the grounds once or twice as a child, but since her father had given the order for the gates to remain shut, she hadn't left. She didn't really remember anything about the town, or the people, but she was sure that she would love it.

It was coronation day. Equius heaved a sigh as he looked out the window, over his kingdom. He could see the citizens running around the town excitedly, some of them gathering around the gate, waiting for it to be opened.

He took a deep breath. He could do this.

"Just let me have this day," he said. No one else was in the room with him, it was only him and his thoughts. "Just…stay calm. Just for today. It's only for today, and then you can go back to how it used to be."

Once he was done with his little pep talk, he gave the okay for the guards to open up the gate.

Once the gate had opened up, people came pouring into the courtyard.

Nepeta, on the other hand, couldn't get outside fast enough. She paid no attention to the people glancing her way with huge smiles on their faces, she only wanted to get down the walkway. She made her way around people swiftly, getting into the marketplace part of town with ease.

She felt major deja vu being in town, even though she didn't recognize anything. She skipped around town, meeting and greeting the people who knew at once that she was the princess. This is what she did for the majority of the time…until she was skipping down a walkway by the port, and she was pushed to the side into one of the boats by some heavy force that she couldn't see, because, well, she was shoved into a boat. The boat would have nearly fallen too, but something stopped it. And was she ever thankful for that.

"Hey!" She looked up and saw that it was a horse that had bumped into her, and said horse was keeping the boat steady with his hoof. She made eye contact with the horse's rider, and…well…he was about the strangest guy Nepeta had ever seen.

* * *

**Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go figure out how to write Gamzee.**


	4. III

**I hope you guys are ready for some clown butchering. That sounds so wrong...but, I realize that I have completely butchered Gamzee's character, and for that, I ask that you forgive me. I'm doing my best with this guy, and I know that my best just isn't enough. I know for a fact though I will have a much easier time writing him later on, when this story gets to the part in Frozen when...well, you know...**

**I'm still looking for fantrolls for the Duke's bodyguards! Two males, please. And I still need trolls for the Dignitaries! Preferably four males, but I'd also be able to work with two males, and two females! If I don't get the trolls by the time I need them, I'll just use some of my own trolls (I've got plenty to spare ;;;), so act now if you want your fantroll in this here fic. Message me for more info if you're interested.**  
**Speaking of fantrolls, the lovely Rowena makes an apperance in this chapter. She is copyrighted to TailsDoll13 :3!**

**This is the last thing then I'll get along with the chapter, I promise. Guys, I don't want to be _that_ author who trades reviews for chapters, but...I need reviews. I need to know that I'm not wasting my time, and I need to know what I'm doing right, because I will fuck it up (are we allowed to cuss on this site? o.o). Trust me, I will. So please, drop a review my way. Let me know why you like this fic!**

**Without further ado, here is the next chapter for Fracture.**

* * *

III.

_She made eye contact with the horse's rider, and…well…he was about the strangest guy Nepeta had ever seen._

He appeared to be nineteen years or so, even still he couldn't have been much older than Nepeta, who had eighteen years under her belt. The stranger was dressed formally, so she could assume that he was someone that had a status worth respecting. Even his horse gave off a very royal aura.

The stranger's hair was a dark blob of thick locks (had he ever touched a brush in his life?), so Nepeta couldn't really see his eyes, but they appeared to be some kind of blue. Despite the obvious royalty-worthy aura of the stranger, he also carried a very relaxed one to accompany it.

Even though he looked to be a mess, there was some…odd charm to him.

Nepeta attempted to get up and help herself out of her current predicament, seeing as how she was very uncomfortable around water she did not want to be falling into the port anytime soon.

The horse's rider made a swift movement down to the boat, helping Nepeta up and getting her out of the boat. He, presumably, could tell how uncomfortable the situation made her.

"I didn't hurt a sister, did I?" Nepeta blinked when he spoke, bewildered by his strange take on words. Did he speak to everyone so casually?

"Uh, no, I'm okay."

The stranger had a big grin on his face, a very happy, relaxed one. Nepeta had never met someone of royalty who was so easy-going… "Prince Makara of Gaudium," he said, bowing to her out of respect. So she was right, he was a member of royalty. "But you, my little lady, can just call me Gamzee. To whom do I owe the motherfucking pleasure?"

She elected to ignore the foul language he so casually used. "Princess Nepeta of Alternia." Out of reflex, she curtsied to him.

"Knew I was in the presence of a motherfucking princess. Greetings, my lady." He bowed to her again. "Let me take this miraculous chance to apologize for hitting you with my horse. You only get one of those, you know."

"It's okay, don't worry." Nepeta couldn't help but giggle at his words. He had an interesting way of speaking; it added to his strange charm. "Are you here for the coronation, Gamzee?"

"For no other reason. Not everyday you get to see a king be crowned. You happy for your brother?"

"Of course I am. He's been waiting his whole life for this day." Though she was happy, Nepeta was hoping she could use today as a chance to talk to her brother. It had been so long since she had even seen Equius (the only real times she saw him were quick glances when he would skirt around corners, only to hurry back into his room)…

If anything, that was the main reason she was so excited. She wanted to rekindle with her brother. They were best friends when they were children, and she was convinced that they could be best friends yet again…if Equius would only give her a chance.

Nepeta was forced out of her thoughts when she heard bells. "The bells! I've got to go, I'll see you at the ball, maybe? Bye!" She didn't wait for an answer, she just hurried on her way. The bells told her that she only had a few minutes to make it to the church, where the official coronation ceremony would be taking place.

"Consider it my own privilege," Gamzee said after she had left, with a happy little grin on his face.

In the little church were the ceremony was being held, Equius was as jittery as some of the servants when they had a little too much coffee. He may have just been looking into the subject too much, but he couldn't deny the horrible nervousness he was feeling.

_Just a little while longer_, he told himself over and over. Nepeta was right by his side, but he could've sworn that she was a little distracted for some reason…

Equius bowed his head before the priest so he could put the crown upon his head. That was the easy part. Then came the part of the ceremony where he would officially be sworn in and recognized as king. The part that he was so nervous about.

He had to take in his hands an orb and a small scepter. The orb was most important, it symbolized the will of the gods. By holding it while being sworn it, it was supposed to symbolize the fact that Equius would be given the power of gods to rule over his country.

"Your Majesty," the priest said in a hushed voice to Equius, just as he was about to pick up the two objects. "The gloves."

He sent a bit of a glare the priest's way. Why did he have to remember that little fact? It didn't even seem to matter that much. But, if he didn't do it, then the ceremony would never end…

So, he swallowed the lump in his throat and took off his gloves, very carefully. They weren't the same gloves that his father had given him, but he still handled them with extreme care. With his bare hands, he took the orb and the scepter and turned around to face the crowd, who had stood while the priest recited words in the old Alterian tongue.

To say Equius was nervous was an understatement. He hoped his shaking wasn't noticeably, and if it was…hopefully they would just put it off as regular nerves. No one knew of his powers, after all. He could tell that because of his strength, the two objects in his hands were beginning to crack, but he didn't dare look down at them. He merely looked on ahead, at the back of the church. It made time go by even the slightest bit faster.

"…King Equius of Alternia." The priest finished his speech, and Equius got those gloves back on his hands so fast one would think his hands were on fire and those gloves held some kind of cure.

It was custom to hold a party after a ceremony, and for Equius' coronation, it would be no different. Ladies in ball gowns and gentlemen in suits graced the floor, dancing to the music that a band nearby was playing.

"…Ahem. If I can get everyone's attention, please," a woman at the front of the room said, clapping her hands to get everyone to be quiet. Her voice was somewhat monotone, but she carried an aura of authority. "Thank you. Now, it is with deepest pride that I introduce: King Equius of Alternia."

The large group all bowed as Equius entered the room and met the woman in the center. "And, may I also introduce: Princess Nepeta of Alternia…" she drifted off as she looked to the right of the room, where Nepeta was supposed to be when she was called. She was supposed to enter the room from there, and she was supposed to come to the center and stand by her brother.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Nepeta finally appeared. She nearly bolted into the room, and she gave a few waves to the group.

As the group broke up and the people returned to the party, the woman took Nepeta by the shoulders and guided her toward Equius.

"Wait, what are you - Rowena, am I supposed to -?" The woman, Rowena, placed her right next to her brother, and she took a few steps away from him, as being that close to him just felt wrong, out of place, and just…awkward.

"Thank you, Rowena," Equius said to the woman, who bowed and then dismissed herself.

The two of them stood there for a moment, Equius looking out at the massive group of people with a large smile on his face. The nerves were starting to settle down, and he felt pretty calm. Nepeta, on the other hand, felt extremely out of place. Rowena probably put her here out of revenge for being late…

"Hi." The voice of her brother brought Nepeta back to reality, and she jumped a little when she realized that he was, indeed, speaking to her.

"Me? Oh, um, hello," she said in a voice that was a little bit squeaky. Obviously, she was nervous. And she seemed so ready to talk to him earlier in the day…

"You look very lovely." She knew he meant well with his compliments, but standing next to her brother, in his fanciest of clothes, she felt, well, she felt like a mere caterpillar standing next to a butterfly.

"Thank you!" Nepeta chimed out, perhaps a bit too quickly. She slapped herself mentally, thinking she sounded like an idiot. "You look very handsome as well!"

The smile on Equius' face widened, and he laughed softly. "Thank you."

Nepeta was about to say something else, but she was interrupted because Rowena had brought someone to the two of them.

"Your Majesty," she said, "May I introduce to you, Duke Ampora of Aecor."

Duke Ampora was a tall man, nearly as tall as Equius, save a few inches or so. He had dark hair that, for whatever reason, had a bit of purple dyed into it. He must have been someone with a lot of status, finance wise at least. Dye, especially purple dye, was hard to come by and it was quite expensive. His clothing was mostly of purple fabrics and various variations of the color…he seemed to be very fond of the color purple.

"Please, call me Eridan. No need to be so formal, we are all royalty here, no?" He laughed, trying to ease the mood perhaps, and Equius and Nepeta laughed along with him, if only to help ease the tense mood that had suddenly taken over.

"Alright. Eridan. Did you need something?" Equius sounded impatient with his words. He was upset because this man had interrupted his prior conversation.

"I would like to borrow the princess, if only for a moment." He bowed, with a hand over his heart. "I'd like a dance, please."

"Oh, uh, sure?"

As Eridan took Nepeta away and onto the dance floor, she glanced back toward Equius, giving him a look of 'we can talk again later'. Equius nodded.

On the dance floor, Eridan had guided Nepeta into a regular traditional dance, and he was talking to her as they danced.

"I was quite the happy Duke when I heard that the King was having his coronation." She hadn't noticed it earlier, but Nepeta noticed that the Duke had a bit of stammer whenever he said anything that had a 'w' in it. He did a good job of hiding it, though she couldn't help get a goofy grin on her face when she imagined what it must have been like when he was a boy.

"Yes, it's a very big day for him. Me, too, though. I'm very happy for him."

"Yes I am sure you are…it's very good that the gates are open once again. Speaking of which, why were they ever shut? Do you know why?" Eridan leaned in a little, getting just a _bit_ too close for comfort, making Nepeta back up as a form of a rebuttal.

"No, I don't." That was a strange question to ask. Why did it matter to him? It sounded rather suspicious…

"Oh. Well, no matter."

Nepeta had managed to get away from Eridan, and she made her way back up to the front of the room so she could stand with Equius.

"Did you enjoy your little adventure?" Equius asked, with a playful gleam in his eyes.

"Heh, yeah, I guess so." She decided not to bring up how Eridan had asked her about the gates. She didn't want to ruin her chances of winning her brother back, and she felt like bringing up such a topic had the power to do that.

"Are you alright?" He asked, noticing that she seemed a little down.

"I've…never been better," she said, in all honesty. "This is so…amazing. I wish it could be like this always."

"I do too." Equius smiled at her for a moment, but then his face did a complete 180 when he remembered the exact reason _why it couldn't be like this all the time._ "But…it can't."

"Why not? I don't understand why-"

"It just can't!" He snapped at her, turning away. He immediately regretted it. He hadn't seen her in so long and he gets angry at her? What a helpful, kind big brother he was.

Nepeta grew quiet, her body language becoming submissive as she tried to escape the situation. "…please…excuse me for a moment," she said before walking off into the crowd.

As Nepeta made her way through the crowd, trying her best not to get into people's way, she screamed at herself in her head. Why was she such an idiot? She had one chance, and she blew it. This was her only chance to get her brother back…and she might not have gotten another one. She knew that as soon as the party was over, Equius was going to seal himself in his room yet again, and their lives would go back to as it had been since she could remember.

She muttered a 'sorry' when she had bumped into someone. She didn't know who the someone was until she heard the vaguely familiar voice:

"Nepeta?"

* * *

**Shit is gonna hit the fan next chapter. Just letting you know so you can mentally prepare yourself.**


	5. IV

**I'm excited. Are you excited? I'm very excited.**  


**Oh, by the way, this is your last chance if you want your fantroll to be one of (or both, you can send in two!) Eridan's bodyguards. If not, well, like I said I've got plenty of trolls to spare.  
EDIT: I have the next chapter written. I will give you until Monday, June 2 to get your troll into me. Remember, I need a name (though for the guards, the names probably won't come up), basic apperance description (How tall are they? What color are their eyes? Hair?), and a description of their personality (for the guards, I suggest sending in a troll who is rugged and cold-spirited. The guards seem to be these types. The soldier type.)**

* * *

IV.

"Gamzee!" Nepeta nearly shouted in surprise. She hadn't really been expecting to see him again.

"Something bothering you?" he asked almost instantly, catching onto to the sad mood that the princess was in. Of course, he didn't know the exact reason why she was feeling low.

Nepeta glanced back toward the front of the room, where she could vaguely see Equius greeting a few guests who had approached him. When she turned back, she said, "It's nothing. Come on, let's dance!"

After partaking in a dance, the two of them wandered around the castle grounds. Even though it only been a few hours, there seemed to be an endless amount of topics to talk about. It seemed strange opening up this much to someone she had only met recently, but it didn't feel wrong at all. No, when she was with Gamzee…everything felt _right_.

Nepeta showed Gamzee all throughout the gardens that surrounded the castle.

"Whoa, what's up with this?" Gamzee asked all of a sudden, pointing toward Nepeta's hair, where a single blue streak currently resided.

"I was born with it," Nepeta said, pushing her hair back out of sudden insecurity. "Although…I had a dream once that was I kissed by a troll."

"Wicked." There he went with that big grin again. It always stretched across his face, and even though he looked incredibly goofy, it was all part of his charm.

About an hour or so later, the two royals were sitting on a balcony. Somehow, the topic had changed to siblings, and that was how Nepeta learned that Gamzee had an older brother too.

"…truth be told, I always felt overshadowed by Kurloz. Love him, he's my brother, yeah, but I always felt like Dad gives him more attention than he does me."

"I can relate to the overshadowing…when Equius decided that he had enough of me, my dad was always with him. I practically never saw him." Nepeta let out a sigh.

"Aw, you know I'd never _dare_ do that to you."

Nepeta had a big smile on her face that she couldn't keep under control for some reason. She just felt so _happy_, and she wasn't even sure exactly why. "Okay, just…can I say something crazy?"

"Always happy to hear crazy, princess."

Nepeta cleared her throat, not really sure what she going to say. But she had to say _something_. "I've never really had a friend in my life. I had Equius, yeah, but then he decided to abandon me…but then, then I met you. Gamzee, I'm not sure what it is about you, but I really really like you."

"Nepeta -"

"I didn't finish!" she said in a falsely harsh tone. It sounded more playful then anything. "The point is, I've never felt this way about anyone and I think -"

"Marry me."

"I think that - …wait…what?"

Gamzee had that signature grin of his on his face. He took Nepeta's hand in his, and he stood up before he went down on one knee. "Marry me, Nepeta. Be my queen. Will you do me the motherfucking honor?"

Nepeta nearly started squealing from excitement. Sure, it was sudden, but she really felt like this was meant to be! "Yes!"

Once again, the two found themselves back in the ball room, although now they were scouting the room, looking for Equius.

"'Scuse me, excuse me!" Nepeta kept her eyes sharp, looking for her brother in the crowd of who knows how many people. "Oh, there he is!"

Equius was speaking to a representative from another country when he heard his sister calling his name.

"Equius! Or, uh, King -" Nepeta spurted out as she made sudden eye contact with her brother. Hopefully he wasn't still upset about what had happened earlier…

She had Gamzee stand right next to her, and their arms were interlocked. This was enough to cause Equius to tense up.

"King Equius - may I introduce, Prince Gamzee Makara of Gaudium."

"Your Kingliness." Gamzee gave a bow to Equius, who in turn gave a nod of acknowledgment.

"We would like your blessing of our marriage!" Nepeta was so excited she could barely speak, and Gamzee was speaking at the same time, so the sentence just sounded like a jumbled mess until they finally came to an agreement in the end.

Equius tensed up, blinking in confusion. "Marriage?"

"Yes!"

Where was this coming from? He had never even seen this man - Gamzee, his name apparently was -, and now his sister comes to him claiming she wished to marry the fellow? He barely looked like a prince! This was _not_ happening as far as Equius was concerned.

"No."

"What?"

"I will not condone to such a foolish idea," Equius said as calmly as he could muster. "Nepeta, you cannot marry a man you've just met."

Nepeta tightened her grip on Gamzee's arm. "You can if it's true love!"

"Nepeta, you are merely a child. What do you know about true love?"

"More than you! All you know how to do is shut people out!"

Equius' blue eyes widened. He never thought that she would go that far. Perhaps this man really did mean something special to her…no, no he didn't. She was just throwing a tantrum like a child. That was it.

"…you asked for my blessing, but my answer is no." He began to walk away from the couple then, but he was stopped by Gamzee.

"Your Majesty, if I may ease your motherfucking -"

"No, no you may not. I said no, and that is final. I think you should go." He didn't look back then as he started to walk toward the large door that would take him out of the ball room. He needed to leave, before he lost his temper, and before he lost control. He told the guards to break up the party, dismiss all of the guests, and close the gates yet again.

Nepeta let out a shrill "No!" and she ran toward her brother, reaching out to try and grab him, but she only pulled off his glove.

To which he immediately turned around, and with a horrified look on his face, said, "Give me back my glove!"

Oh, _now_ she had his attention. Maybe she should have pulled off one of his gloves a long time ago. "Equius - please. I can't live like this anymore." She was on the verge of tears now, her green eyes showing all of the emotion that her words could not.

Equius took a deep breath, and stared her straight in the eye. He felt like he would cry too, but he would not let such a thing happen. When he got too upset, bad things started to happen… "You are free to leave."

He turned away again, walking toward the door, but this time he had his shoulders in close. His body language gave off an aura that should have told everyone that he was extremely uncomfortable.

"What did I ever do to you?" Nepeta shouted, gaining the attention of some of the partygoers.

"Stop this, Nepeta," Equius pleaded, walking a bit slower now that he was being watched by more and more people as the seconds ticked by.

"No, I won't stop! Why do you do this? Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out? _What are you so afraid of?!_"

And it was at that moment that Equius couldn't take it anymore. Even though he was right at the door, he could've just walked away… "I said, _stop_!" At that moment Equius waved his arm, and what he did was let his secret loose. Stalagmites erupted from the ground, causing everyone to jump twenty paces back. The dark blue shadow was starting to form around him, like it did each and every time.

"Equius…?" Nepeta said in a quiet voice.

Said King struggled to find the doorknob, and once he did, it broke off. He discarded it quickly and rammed the door down with his superior strength, running as fast as he could to get out of the castle.

He had to get out, and he had to get out _now_.

When Equius emerged from the front doors of the castle, he was greeted by a large group of people who immediately started cheering when they saw him. They all bowed to him, and they were making it difficult for him to find a way out. Because it was dark outside, they couldn't see the shadow that was around him.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" A woman asked him when he stopped for a moment. She held a baby in her arms, and Equius backed up. He reached out to get a grip on something, _anything_, and it just so happened to be one of the fountains that was in the courtyard.

The entire thing tipped over, but because of the void, the water was destroyed before it even hit the ground. The fountain, on the other hand, was now in two pieces, and it was then that the people seemed to realize what was going on. Something was wrong with their king.

"There he is!" He looked over toward the voice, and was surprised to find that it was Duke Ampora. What business did he have, speaking to him like that? "Stop him!"

"Please, just listen to me! Stay away - stay away from me!" Though Equius tried over and over again, his emotions were spiraling completely out of control. He accidentally shot a dark blue energy sphere (courtesy of the void) at the Duke, and it made a stalagmite quickly rise from the ground, nearly impaling the Duke. It caught him so off guard that he tripped on his own two feet.

When he regained his composure he only had one word to say. "Monster…monster!"

Equius clenched his hand and scolded himself harsher than he had ever done before. But then the word sunk in. _Monster_. He looked around at the citizens, who were all now backing away out of fear for the king. The woman who had previously spoken to him was now holding her baby away from him as far as she could. He also saw other people in the crowd performing similar manners with their own children, trying to get them away from their monster of a king.

Equius bolted, now easily able to get away as the people cowered to get out of his way.

"Equius!" he vaguely heard. It sounded like Nepeta. He knew that she would come after him.

Nepeta ran after him, calling his name over and over, pleading him to stop running away. But Equius wouldn't listen, no matter what she said. He was running purely on his fear.

When he got to the border of the castle grounds, where the farming lands began, he looked ahead and saw the forest. If he could just make it…could he though?

"Equius! Please, wait!"

It was no matter of could he. He _had_ to.

Equius ran as fast as his legs would carry him, a bit faster than normally because of the adrenaline. Occasionally, as he ran, a stalagmite would rise out of the ground, frightening him and causing his path to become zigzagged.

"Equius, wait! Stop!" By the time Nepeta got down there, Equius was already clear into the forest. She was running so fast she tripped, and she would have fallen on her face, had Gamzee not been there to catch her.

She stared off into the forest for a few moments, not even bothering to hold the tears back now. Gamzee was right there, and he was a very good shoulder for her to cry on. But while she was crying, he noticed something.

"The fields…"

Nepeta looked up, and she at once knew what had got his attention. The fields were Equius made his trek, even in the darkness, she could tell that the crops…they were dying. Had Equius done something to the soil? The plants drooped, and the trees that were closer to her looked like they had aged many years. They were loosing leaves, and it was not the typical shedding that trees did in the winter. Those leaves would never grow back, and she knew it.

See, Alternia was a country that was mainly based around agriculture. Not only was it to provide food for the citizens, but they were also known for growing some of the rarest crops around. But if nothing could grow...

When Nepeta and Gamzee returned to the courtyard, the people had also taken a notice to the dying nature that surrounded them. The trees that were in the courtyard were like the others that she had seen earlier, and any flowers that were around had long died.

"Are you okay?" Gamzee asked all of sudden. He had been quiet for a while.

"No," Nepeta said back.

"Did you know…?"

She turned and stared at him for a moment. She stared into his eyes for what seemed like years before she finally said,

"No."

* * *

**Listening to the Frozen soundtrack really helps with writing this. At least it does for about five minutes, until I get bored of the song and put Mumford & Sons on. Let's see, up next on the song list is _Let it Go_!  
Karkat is in the next chapter! Get excited!**


	6. V

**And here we are again! Sorry about the small wait this time, but you had better get used to it. See, my internet was being really weird these past few days so I took the time to work on this here fic a _bunch_. I got to the part with the trolls!**  
**At that point I decided that I'm putting this fic on a schedule, because, at this rate, it will be completed much too quickly. I'm thinking of putting a new chapter out every Friday, but I think I will go with a new chapter every Tuesday and Thursday? I mean, yeah, more updates, but I don't want this fic to end too quickly...you know what, I'm gonna make a poll on my profile.**

**In this chapter one of my fantrolls makes an appearance. Ms. Rowena appears as well. Speaking of fantrolls, you can still send in yours for the Dignitaries! Two spots remain. Message me with any questions or concerns that you have.**

**Also: Karkat's back. Get excited.**

* * *

V.

"What's the matter with the trees?" Someone asked as Nepeta and Gamzee made their way through the courtyard. Gamzee was following Nepeta, and Nepeta, well…she wasn't really going anywhere.

"Everything's dying! Look at this - the King has cursed this land!" Duke Ampora's voice was loud amongst the quiet, confused voices of the citizens. Nepeta was easily able to find him, just as he was about to give an order for his guards to go after Equius.

"Hang on a second!" When he saw her, Eridan fled behind the safety of his two guards, both of them tall and rugged looking. They glared at her with sharp, cold eyes.

"You!" he hissed out. "Do you dwell in witchcraft too? Are you a _monster_ too?"

"Did you just call him a monster? My brother is not a monster!"

"He nearly killed me!"

"No, no, no!" Nepeta balled her fists up. She was growing agitated. "It was an accident. He didn't mean it. He didn't mean any of this! This is all…this is all my fault. I should of left him alone. I pushed him, and because of that, I have to go after him," she paused, looking around. "Rowena! Bring me my horse, please!"

"What? Hell to the motherfucking no. It's too dangerous to go out there!" Gamzee said, following the princess over to where there was a bit more of open space, where Rowena had appeared with her horse and a cloak.

"No, you're wrong. Equius is _not_ dangerous." Rowena draped the cloak over her shoulders and helped her up on her horse.

"Then I'm coming with you!"

"No I need you to stay here - you have to take care of Alternia while I'm away. I'll find Equius and I'll bring him back and I'll make things right again."

Gamzee tried reasoning with her. "You sure you can trust him? I don't want a single hair on your head harmed."

Nepeta smiled at him to reassure him. "He's my brother. He would _never_ hurt me."

Meanwhile, some ways away from the castle, Equius was wandering throughout a cave system. He knew that these particular caves were like a honeycomb, and he would eventually find his way to the surface, where there was a mountain that loomed over Alternia. With it, and with the caves, Equius would be able to be alone. And that was what he wanted.

How could he be so foolish? How could he let his emotions get the better of him, at such an important time like tonight was? He wanted to blame Nepeta, for he knew that he wouldn't have lost it if she didn't approach him with that silly idea…but, he couldn't. It just wasn't right. It was his own fault for not keeping a check on his emotions. He scolded himself for even thinking about putting the blame on his sister, even for that second.

He had let his father down. He had let everyone know his secret, and now there was no other choice but to move away from civilization, to get away to a place where he would no longer be a danger.

But then the young king realized something. He was alone, yes, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing…maybe now…because he was alone, he was no longer a danger. And because he was no longer a danger, maybe now he could finally stop tormenting himself! Maybe, just maybe, he could be _free_!

At this realization, a smile appeared on Equius' face, like he was a kid in a candy store. He ran through the caves excitedly, and when he finally got back to the surface, he began listing off the things that would be changing starting from that moment.

"One. There's no use for these anymore!" He ripped off his remaining glove and threw it aside. If he was to be free, then he had to get rid of everything that held him back. And that meant _everything_.

"Two. The crown must be removed." At this, he took his crown off of his head. He stared at it for a moment before he smiled again, then he tossed it into the distance as if it were a Frisbee. He would still be a king, yes, but he would be the king of a new land, a land where he didn't have to follow any of the rules that his father had put into place. A land where he didn't have to be afraid of himself.

"Three. Every kingdom needs a castle!" He raised his arms up slowly at first, but then he upped the speed, forcing towers upon towers of rock out of the ground. He made it so it would shape itself into a small castle, not one as big as his old one of course, but one that would still allow him to live comfortably. He crafted it so it resembled his old one a bit, but he also threw in his own touches. He made a chandelier to go into one of the main rooms, a balcony on the top floor, and to top the entire thing off he made a long staircase leading down into the caves.

"And lastly…" He gazed upon his new castle for a moment before he looked to the ground. He forced more rock out of the ground, and shaped it so it took on the shape of the last robot that he had ever created with his sister. "Every land needs a mayor."

"Equius? Equius, it's me, Nepeta! You know, your sister?" Nepeta called out into the wilderness (which she noticed looked even more barren then it did the previous night). She had been searching for her brother all night, and even though she had taken a few cat naps along the way, she knew that she had to keep going. She had to put her tiredness aside, and she had to find her brother.

"It's your sister!" she called again. "Your sister, who didn't mean to make you make everything a barren wasteland! I'm sorry about what happened, it's all my fault!"

She then glanced down to her horse and dropped her voice down a bit. "Of course, this probably wouldn't have happened if he just told me his secret…" she said to the animal, as if she was expecting it to respond. "He's such a doofus," she said, laughing.

All of a sudden, a nearby tree decided that now would be a good time to collapse. And when it did, it frightened Nepeta's horse and it bucked her off before it ran off.

"Wait wait, no come back!" she called, but her efforts were in vain. The horse was long gone. "…okay…well…" she looked around, standing up. "Well…he's not gonna find himself."

"It looks so horrible…everything's dying," Nepeta said as she walked through what once was a lush forest. All of the trees had lost their leaves, and a few of them had already collapsed. Those that hadn't were shedding their bark, and she didn't even want to stop and see what damage had been done to any flowers. She didn't even want to _think_ about how all of this would affect the local wildlife. And just when she was thinking about taking up hunting…

She had been walking throughout the wilderness for a while now, and it was almost night time again. The sun was beginning to set, but even if she had to go through another night searching, she would.

It happened so suddenly, Nepeta didn't even realize what happened until it was too late. She took a wrong step, and ended up tripping on her own two feet. It seemed harmless, but when she tried to stand, there was pain in her ankle.

"Oh, that's not good." She stopped, sitting for a moment so she could observe the damage. "Well…it doesn't look sprained." When she stood up, a sharp pain shot up her leg. It was bad, yes, but she could deal with it. The only problem she had was that it gave her a slight limp.

Then she spotted a building. Making her way over as fast as her new injury would allow her, she read the sign and found out that it was a small shop of some kind. When she entered the room (nearly catching her bad ankle in the door), she looked around for a few moments, looking at all the wares. The shop had knickknacks, survival supplies, food, you named it, it was probably there.

"Hey." Nepeta turned, slightly startled. Behind her, was a young man who was carrying a crate. He had short wavy blonde hair, and his eyes were so light they looked clear. Those eyes carried worry in them. He placed the crate down and walked a little closer to her. "Are you okay? You've got a bit of a limp there."

She could assume that this man was the shopkeeper. "No, it's okay, I'm okay."

"You sure? Come over to the counter, I'll take a look at it for you. No charge." He winked at her.

"…alright. If you're sure it's okay."

"Lemme guess. You tripped, and then this happened," the shopkeeper said, wrapping some bandages around Nepeta's ankle.

"Yeah, that's exactly what happened actually. Is it sprained, uh, Mr…?"

"Call me Callum. And no, it's not sprained. It should heal up in a few hours, but these bandages should help keep the bones and muscles in place, so the healing should quicken a little. So, what are you doing out here, Princess?"

"Oh, nothing in particular…" she trailed off. She didn't want the whole country knowing about what happened at the coronation party. Though this young man seemed to be someone that she could trust, she still didn't want to tell him. "Say, if you don't mind my asking…have you seen anyone else pass through here…? A young man, about your height…he could, I don't know…be the king, maybe…"

Callum looked suspicious at her mumbling, with raised eyebrows and a confused look in his eyes. "No, I haven't seen anyone. You're actually the first person that's been up here in a few days -"

He was interrupted because someone else entered the shop. The person opened the door, rather roughly, and slammed it just as rough. Because they were right up in the front of the store, Nepeta got a good look at the stranger.

He was tall, though not as tall as Gamzee, but not as tall as Equius either…he couldn't have been a few more inches taller than Nepeta herself. He had black, messy hair (though not as messy as Nepeta's), and even though she couldn't really see his eyes all that well because of the distance, they looked to be some strange combination of brown and red.

"…make that two," Callum suddenly said, drawing Nepeta out of her thoughts. "How do you do, stranger?"

Said stranger didn't answer Callum, he just brushed his clothes off. Callum sighed as he noticed the new accumulating bits of dirt that were appearing on the floor. The stranger then started to walk to the front counter, and Nepeta quickly hopped off of it, not wanting to get in this man's way. She edged her way to the side as the stranger reached underneath the counter and grabbed a bag of something. She heard a small 'ploosh' sound as he dropped the bag on the countertop.

"So, stranger, how are you faring with this new…uh…weather we've been having?" Nepeta tensed up at Callum's question, even though it wasn't directed at her .

"I've been better," the stranger finally said after moments of awkward silence. He had moved to a different part of the small shop, and he picked up one of the spades that were display there. He also took a blanket before he went back to the counter and laid the new goods down.

"…Alright, that'll be 50 gold pieces."

"50? I can't pay that. I'll give you 10."

Oh, now they were going to start bargaining with each other? Nepeta's eyes traveled from Callum to the stranger, then back again, as she observed the strange thing happening in front of her.

"No, see, spades are wanted very much around these parts. Agriculture, you know? And now, with these new conditions, the prices are gonna skyrocket. Gotta keep up with the times. So, 50."

"I don't _have_ 50. 10's all I have."

Callum leaned over the counter and took the spade from where the stranger had put it, and he took the bag that was taken from underneath the counter. Whatever was in it, Nepeta could hear it making more 'slosh' type noises. "Alright, for 10 you'll get the blanket."

"What? Are you _serious_?"

"Business, business. I've got a business to run here, buddy. Supply and demand."

"Supply and demand? I raise and harvest _trees_ for a living. Try doing _that_ for a little while. It fucking sucks."

"That's a rough business to be in right now!" Nepeta pitched in to the conversation, drawing the attention of both of the men. She was trying to lighten the mood, but she felt like she made it worse. "Uh, I mean…that's unfortunate."

"I've been through what's left of these forests a dozen times, not a single healthy tree is left. I even went into the caves for good measure! But what kind of plant could grow in that beehive of a place? Come on, don't make me beg," the stranger said.

"Caves?" Nepeta asked, tilting her head a little. Equius usually liked exploring caves…perhaps this stranger could help her… "Uh, speaking of those caves, did anything seem a little…I don't know…odd?"

"Besides the whole 'no-goddamn-trees-for-miles' thing? No, don't think so," the stranger said back, in a harsh voice. "Now leave me alone. I've gotta deal with this crook."

Callum didn't seem to like that comment, and even from behind the counter, Nepeta could tell that he had his fists balled up so tight they were turning white. "What did you just call me…?"

"A crook. That's what you are. Nothing but a crook."

Callum walked around the counter, and now the stranger could see that he was at least two feet taller than him. He was definitely more intimidating, no matter what kind of attitude the stranger had. "A crook?"

What he did next was unexpected. He hoisted the stranger up over his shoulder, carried him to the door, and proceeded to throw him out of his store. He was _much_ stronger than he looked.

"Sorry about that…anyway, I wish you luck, Princess, in whatever you're doing out here." Callum bowed his head as he spoke. "Tell you what. Since I like you, and you didn't cause a ruckus like that stranger did, I'll give you a pair of new boots. They're perfect for these new conditions, they're practically cleats. What's your boot size? "

"Oh, no, I couldn't let you do that."

"Come on, let me help you out. It's better for your ankle to, the boots will give it more support. Anything else I can help you with?"

Nepeta glanced toward the door before she looked back at Callum, who was picking out boots for her to try on. Her body may have been in that shop, but her mind was on that stranger.

She gave her thanks to Callum for a final time before she left his store. She carried a bag, a spade, and a blanket with her. The items that the stranger would have purchased, if he had enough money. She still didn't know what was in the bag, and she didn't want to find out. Now she just had to _find_ the guy.

The distant sound of a guitar playing brought her out of her thoughts. It was an acoustic guitar, and did she hear….singing? It was coming from a nearby barn - Callum's no doubt -, and Nepeta decided to investigate.

She stopped at the barn door, not wanting to scare whoever was in there. She was sure it was the stranger from earlier, she could recognize his voice. He had a lovely singing voice, even though she couldn't really make out the words. She did make out one word though: Dad.

When she was sure that he was done with his song, she lay the spade up against the wall and opened up the door. She picked it up again and entered the barn, saying, "That was a nice song."

She then proceeded to let out a startled yell, and it barely matched the screech that the creature in front of her was giving off.

It was a large, shellfish-like creature, and it was completely white. It had four eyes, and it had large fangs that it was currently baring at Nepeta as it growled at her. The stranger was at its side, trying to soothe it, to which it eventually calmed. It quieted down then.

Nepeta couldn't take her eyes off of…whatever it was. "What the heck is that?"

"He's a lusus, duh. A crab lusus," the stranger said matter-of-factly. She remembered reading about some kind of species that was called 'lusus', but the book said they were extinct. They were in the same book as trolls, the book telling her that a lusus took care of a young troll from birth.

But…the stranger was clearly not a troll.

"You gonna stare at him all day? Or do you have something to say?"

"I thought someone else was in here…I thought it was your father, you kept saying 'Dad' in that song," Nepeta said. She was calm now, no longer afraid of the massive creature in front of her. She trusted that the stranger would keep him under control.

The stranger's face seemed to drop when she said the word 'Dad'. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

Nepeta took note of the reaction that the stranger gave her. "…you weren't referring to this…uh…lusus, where you?" The book _did_ say that a lusus was responsible for the care of a young troll. If a human had a lusus for whatever reason, why would it be any different?

"No I wasn't!"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. That's kinda cute anyway."

"I swear to everything holy if I catch one earful of you blabbing-"

Nepeta held up her hands in a surrendering gesture. She didn't want to make the stranger more upset then he already seemed, after what happened in the store.

The stranger, for what seemed to be the first time, noticed what she was holding in her hand. The crab beast noticed too, because he reared his head up a little, sniffing. Nepeta knew that he couldn't have possibly been so interested in the spade nor the blanket, so whatever was in the bag had to have been something for him.

She glanced into the bag, and finally discovered what was inside of it. It was, at least a dozen, of raw fish. "Fish? He eats fish?"

"Of course he eats fish, he's a goddamn crab for crying out loud."

She tossed the bag the crab beast's way, and it went to work immediately, sitting down the best it could and pulling the fish out of the bag. He ate them just as quickly, and he would have eaten them all if the stranger hadn't have warned him to save some, because he was _not_ going back into that store.

"So what do you want. You bought Dad the fish. You bought the spade and the blanket. You want something. No one ever does anything 'just because'." Well…maybe that was true. She did have a favor to ask him, and she thought buying the items for him would help him trust her. "Also, who are you?"

Did he…really just ask that? Everyone knew who she was. Even people from other countries knew who she was. "Nepeta…Princess Nepeta…"

"Ah, so you're the princess I've heard so much about." He thought back to the day before, when had been in the market. Everything seemed so fine yesterday, but when he woke up the next morning…everything was a mess, a wasteland. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be celebrating with your newly crowned brother?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm here…let me explain…" With that, Nepeta began to explain the events that had happened at the coronation party. She explained that Equius had completely freaked out, and ran off into the woods, but she didn't give the exact reason _why_. "I want you to take me through those caves. I'm sure he went in there," she paused for a moment, but then she realized something, "Oh! What's your name?"

"Karkat, and no, I don't accept your offer. I don't take people places."

"Come on, I can fix this! I can bring all the trees back to life! You said you harvested trees for a living, think about that! What are you gonna do if you can't get anymore trees?"

Karkat's eyes widened up a little. He hadn't thought about that. He just thought that this strange occurrence would cease soon, and then everything would be back to normal and he go to raising trees again. "…fine. We leave at dawn."

Even though she wanted to leave right away, Nepeta had to sleep. She felt like she would collapse at any moment, and Callum told her to stay off of her foot for as long as possible. Though she was sure that his advice would go to waste, now seemed like a good time to get off of her feet and rest.

She settled into a pile of hay that was not too far away from Karkat, but not too close either. The crab beast that he called Dad was right next to him. He seemed to be very protective over him. She could tell that the animal loved him as if he was his son.

"So…Karkat…"

"What?" He drawled out. She could tell by his voice that he was tired, and she felt a little bad for bothering him.

"Does your…uh, lusus have a name? Or do you just call him Dad?"

"I've been calling him Dad since as long as I can remember, and I don't have the time to think of anything else."

Nepeta went to work, using her creative juices to try and think of a name for the creature. "Well, he's a crab…so how about 'Crabdad'?"

There was a silence. A long silence. Nepeta was afraid that Karkat had ignored her and went to sleep, but then the single answer disrupted the silence.

"No."

"I'm gonna call him Crabdad, okay?"

"Do _not_ call him that."

"I think he likes it. Do you like that name, Crabdad?"

"Nepeta I swear I will come over there and smite you where you stand-"

"Lay. Smite me where I lay."

"…go the fuck to sleep."


	7. VI

**It is currently 3:32 in the morning and I'm awake and I'm not going to be falling asleep anytime soon, and since it is technically Friday, I suppose I can post this.  
I also have an announcement. I am doing a summer class and it is my first priority. I _need_ to pass this class, because if I don't, I won't get my diploma, and I am _not_ going back to that school anytime soon. As far as this fic is concerned, it should be fine, but I just figured I should make you guys aware of the situation. I still have a few pre-written chapters left, about three I think.  
Oh oh oh! I saw How To Train Your Dragon a few hours ago! Oh my god that movie was brutal I cried like three times**

**Bit of a shorter chapter this time.**

* * *

VI.

After a full night's sleep, Nepeta and Karkat began to head out to where the caves began. According to Karkat, the cave system wasn't that far from where they were, and they should be there by the end of the day.

They were going to get there by sled. It was being pulled by Crabdad, who could in fact go onto four legs if he wanted to, he just chose to remain bipedal most of the time. They had been traveling for an hour or two, and even though it was daytime, it appeared to be night because of the barrenness of the landscape.

"So…tell me, what made the king flip his lid?" Karkat asked all of a sudden, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen upon them.

Nepeta sighed. How was she going to explain this? She had already told him all about Equius and his powers, but that just didn't seem good enough for him… "It was all my fault, really. I got engaged and then he started getting upset because I only just met the guy that day, and then he said he wouldn't bless the marriage -"

"Wait, you got engaged to someone you just met that day?"

"Yes, let me finish. So then we started fighting and next thing you know I've got one of his gloves off. The thing is though he wore those gloves all the time, so I thought, maybe he has a thing about dirt? So I never thought - "

"You seriously got engaged to someone you _just_ met? Who does that? Didn't your parents ever warn you about strangers?"

Nepeta looked him in the eye for a moment before she scooted a bit away from him. "Yes…they did…but Gamzee is no stranger! He - are you listening?"

Karkat in fact did not seem to be listening to her anymore. Crabdad had stopped, and he was looking around. "Shut up," Karkat said, looking around out into what was left of the forest.

"What-"

"Will you shut the fuck up for _two minutes_?"

Nepeta did as he said, but only because she got the feeling that something was out there. She got the feeling that they were not alone in that forest. Karkat squinted his eyes and peered out into the trees. He saw two figures out there, very…very large figures. He could tell they were rounded, and he saw two sets of glowing yellow eyes, eight eyes a set. Eight eyes a figure.

"Shit shit shit shit shit - Dad, go!" At his word, Crabdad began moving again, this time he was running.

"What are those things out there?" Nepeta asked as Karkat leaned over to the back of the sled, rummaging through his things, looking for something.

"Spiders. Very large, very dangerous spiders. Lusii, actually."

"More lusii? That book lied to me!"

"Luckily there's only two of them, but -" he stuck the torch in the lantern and managed to lit it. "Here, hold this." He handed it to Nepeta and then went back to work before he jumped in the back of the sled, a knife in his hand. He was ready to fight off those spiders whenever they decided to attack.

The spiders were rapidly approaching, and because they were much larger than ordinary spiders, and completely white, Nepeta knew at once that Karkat was right. They were lusii. Though, she got the feeling that they were not as large as they could have been…

"Karkat, wait I want to help!"

"Help? No, not gonna happen. I don't think I can trust you." Karkat shook his head, but kept his eyes forward. He was waiting for one of the spiders to make the first strike.

"Oh, really? Name one thing I've done that makes it so you can't trust me."

"Who marries a man she just met?"

"It's _true love_!" Out of her anger, Nepeta threw the torch. She was aiming for Karkat, but he quickly ducked out of the way and it hit one of the spiders instead, who had pounced and would have gotten onto the sled if it hadn't been hit.

"Whoa, nice shot. Alright, that's one down. Now where is the little fucker?" Karkat looked around, trying to find the other spider, who had disappeared. "Preparing an ambush, are you? Come out! I only want to kill you!"

And then they saw it. The other spider had left, but it was back. It was back, and it brought friends with it this time. Crabdad suddenly screeched, and both Nepeta and Karkat looked back at him to discover that they were rapidly approaching a cliff.

On one side, they had a small army of spiders coming after them. On the other side, there was a cliff that was getting closer and closer by the second.

"Crabdad, you're gonna have to jump!" Nepeta called to the crab beast, and he started to speed up even more to gain traction.

"You do _not_ boss him around." Karkat climbed up to the front of the sled again. He handed Nepeta a satchel, picked her up and tossed her onto the back of his lusus. Slashing the reigns with his knife, he said, "Jump, Dad!"

The crab beast complied, jumping once he had gained enough speed so he would sure that he was going to make it. And he did, he made the jump very easily and was on the other side of the cliff in no time.

Karkat, on the other hand, was still on the sled when it began to go down the cliff. He jumped out momentarily, and he managed to make it to the other side, too, albeit with a bit more effort. He had landed on the hard ground, and when he tried to stand he was met with some pain in his abdomen. He didn't fret though, he knew the pain would subside within a few minutes.

He walked gingerly to the edge of the cliff, and saw his sled at the bottom, a ruined mess that was now beginning to catch fire. "Aw, come on! I just paid that damn thing off!"

Nepeta approached him. "Will those spiders come over here?" He glanced to the other side of the cliff, and saw a few of the spiders attempting to make their way down, though most of them had given up and left.

"They're too young. They'll get stuck down there. And even if they do get over here, it'll take a few hours." Crabdad had approached the duo, and he pulled Karkat into what seemed to be some type of hug. He was happy that he was okay. "Alright Dad - Dad, it's fine, I'm fine! See?"

"Oh, well that's good! Oh by the way, don't worry, I'll replace your sled and everything that was in it!" Nepeta chimed in a happy voice, but then she suddenly got a somber look on her face and her voice dropped. "But if you don't want to help me anymore…well, that's okay. I understand." She then turned and started to walk away from him, slowly. Like she was expecting him to stop her.

Crabdad watched her walk away, and then he looked back at Karkat with his four eyes.

"Ugh, Dad, don't look at me like that."

The crab beast gave him a look. "_You're not going to help her_?" it was Karkat who provided the voice for his lusus, but the voice he did was a bit deeper and a little scratchy.

"No. In fact, I've just decided I never want to never help anyone ever again."

"_But she'll die out there_!" Meanwhile, Nepeta was a few yards away, mumbling things to herself as she tried to figure out which way to go. It was clear that she had no real idea what she was doing.

"I can live with that."

"_You won't get a new sled if she's dead_." Karkat gave his lusus a look. He was right, in the end. And he had made a promise, and he had to uphold it.

"I hate it when you prove me wrong," he said to his lusus, and then he turned in the direction that Nepeta was going. "Stop! I'm coming with you!"

"You are?" Nepeta said excitedly. "I mean…yeah, sure, you can come if you want!"

Now on foot, the trip would take longer. Luckily, it wasn't much farther until they got to the first part of the caves. They found themselves on a cliffside overlooking Alternia. Nepeta stopped for a minute, and she thought she would cry at the state that the town was in.

"The town's in complete ruin," Karkat said, as if Nepeta didn't already know.

"It's okay…" she replied, in a quiet voice. "Equius will fix it."

"…will he?"

"…yeah. He will. So, this way to the Honeycomb Caves?" She pointed in a random direction.

"Ha. Try this way." Karkat took her arm and guided her hand so that it pointed in the proper direction. She had originally been pointing toward a path that looked very safe, and Karkat now pointed her in the direction of a path that was littered with fissures and stalagmites. She shrugged before they went back to their trek.

Along the way, the two of them came across a large fissure in the ground. It was so large that when she peered over it, Nepeta could see a cavern below. She wondered if Equius had done this. Then again, it could've just been a random fissure that had appeared because of the changes. It was devastating, but at the same time, it was…somewhat amazing.

"Destruction is kinda beautiful," she said, not caring if she got a response. "Is it weird to think that?"

"No, it is merely Mother Earth taking back what is hers. It is beautiful, in some bizarre way." Karkat looked into the fissure

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? Just goes to show you Mother Nature can be pretty scary!" Nepeta and Karkat looked around, confused. Neither of them said that. Who was that? Karkat had tensed up, and so did Crabdad, the crab beast in particular. Nepeta, on the other hand, just looked around curiously, wondering what ever could be out here and speaking to them. She even glanced at Crabdad once or twice, just to make sure that he didn't suddenly gain the ability to speak.

"You have earthquakes, and volcanoes, and tornadoes, and hurricanes…" the voice was counting off various natural disasters now, and Nepeta could hear small footsteps behind them. Small enough to belong to a child. When the three of them turned however, they found that it was not a child.

It was a small rock golem. He was about the size of a human child, but he did not look like one. Since he was a golem, he was completely made out of rock, though he had pieces of rock jutting out from his body to the point where it looked like he was wearing clothes. When Nepeta looked down at him, she couldn't even see a mouth on him. But she figured that it was probably because part of rock covered where his mouth would be, like he was wearing a mask. All she could see was two, small black eyes, which blinked at her curiously.

"…right?" the golem said.

Nepeta didn't know what to say, and neither did Karkat. How do you respond to a golem suddenly walking up to you and talking like you were old friends?

"Uh…right…" she muttered. She was completely baffled by the sudden appearance of this golem, but something surprised her even more than the golem did…the golem looked _familiar_.


	8. VII

VII.

"No, that's impossible," Karkat suddenly said. "Golems haven't been spotted in hundreds of years. They say they all went deep underground, to the center of the earth even. Especially one this small shouldn't exist. Golems are never this small."

"Wow, you're really nice," the golem said in a sarcastic tone of voice. Nepeta couldn't help but giggle, much to Karkat's dismay. "Alright, let's start over…hi, everyone! I'm the Mayor. And I like warm hugs."

Nepeta stopped in her tracks right there. "Mayor…?" she muttered, trying to remember where she knew the name from. When she remembered, she realized why the golem looked so familiar to her. "That's right, you're the Mayor!"

The golem got a big smile on his face (or at least, she could assume he did), and he nodded happily. "And you are?"

"Nepeta. Nice to meet you!" The Mayor nodded again, and then he turned to face Karkat and Crabdad, but he took a few steps back.

"Who's the funny looking lobster over there?"

"That's Crabdad," she said, pretending not to notice the glare that she got from Karkat.

"Okay, and who's the crab?"

"Uh, Crabdad…"

"Oh!" The Mayor exclaimed. "Well, alright. Makes things easier then. Now that I know who you guys are I feel less afraid! Now I feel complete, in some weird way! Like I was destined to meet you!"

"Well…you're _almost_ complete," Nepeta muttered as she started to rummage through the satchel that Karkat had handed her, taking out the blanket and his knife.

"What do you think you're doing?" Nepeta ignored Karkat, instead looking around for anything that she could write with. Karkat didn't put a pen or anything like that in the satchel.

The Mayor rushed to defend her. "Don't yell at her like that, Crabdad! I think she's doing something important!"

She let out a gasp of delight when she saw pieces of charcoal on the ground nearby. She went to pick some of them up, and then returned to her work. Karkat, the Mayor, and Crabdad all watched her curiously. She tore a piece of the blanket off, creating a single strip of fabric. To the best of her abilities, she began to write on the blanket with the charcoal.

When she was done, she draped the newly created sash over the Mayor. It was a perfect fit. Though a bit messy, it read 'Mayor'.

"There you go! Every Mayor needs a sash, right?" She smiled at the little golem.

"Ooh, I've always wanted a sash! Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Alright now that we're done with the festivities does anyone want to tell me what the fuck is going on here?" Karkat said as Nepeta put the knife and what was left of the blanket back into the satchel.

"It doesn't matter. Mayor, did Equius make you?"

"It was so scary! First I wasn't alive, then I was…then I got out of there somehow…it's all a blur! But yes, he did make me!" The Mayor exclaimed happily. He reminded Nepeta of herself, with her boundless energy.

"Could you take us to him?"

"Yeah, of course I can! Come on, this way!" He started to run in the direction that he came from, toward the caves. Nepeta and Crabdad followed him without a second thought, but Karkat went a bit more slowly.

"I'm still so confused…"

Back in Alternia, Gamzee was at work, doing his best to keep the citizens calm and happy, even though the town and surrounding areas were falling into complete ruin.

He was currently handing out small booklets filled with ration tickets, which the people needed to get used to using if the life didn't return to the surrounding nature anytime soon.

"Here you go," he said as he handed a woman one of the booklets.

"Alternia thanks you, Your Highness," the woman said with a smile of gratitude on her face. Gamzee returned the smile and gave the guards the remaining booklets, telling them to make sure each household gets one.

"Prince Makara!" A shrill voice called, and he turned to see Duke Ampora approaching him. He had his two guards by his side as usual, and he did not look happy at all.

"What's up, Your Dukeness?

"Do you expect us all to sit here and starve while I let you give away what's let of the food reserves?" For a moment, Gamzee was shocked by the tone that he was being spoken to in. He had _no_ right to speak to Gamzee in that tone of voice. And how could he complain of starvation, when all of the visiting representatives were given their rations first?

"Princess Nepeta has given her orders…"

"There's another thing!" The Duke nearly shouted, interrupting him. "Have you not considered the idea that your princess may be conspiring with a wicked warlock?" Eridan was speaking fast, and he wasn't even trying to hide the stammer that Nepeta had told Gamzee about.

"Wicked does not suit your vocabulary one bit, Your Grace." He dropped the goof act for just that moment, not wanting to upset the Duke any further than he already was. "While I'm at it, do _not_ question the princess. She left me, myself, and I in charge, and I won't wait to protect Alternia from anyone who wants to harm it." The glare that he gave Eridan sent shivers up the Duke's spine. For that moment, he was scared that Gamzee was going to hurt him.

Gamzee's face turned worrisome when he heard the frightened whinnies of a horse. It was Nepeta's horse who ran through the town gates, nearly knocking over one of the guards in the process. Gamzee abandoned Eridan and ran over to the horse, and proceeded to calm it down. What had happened? Where was Nepeta?

As he looked over the walls at the mountain that loomed over Alternia, he caught wind of some things that the citizens were saying. They wondered where the princess was, and the worry was easily found in their voices.

"Princess Nepeta is in danger," he said, turning back to the crowd and handing the horse over to one of the guards. "I need volunteers who will go with me to find her." As a few people stood up and volunteered, Eridan approached the crowd.

"I volunteer two men, Your Highness," he said in a strong voice, wanting to look good to the citizens. "Be prepared for anything." He lowered his voice as he spoke to his two guards. "And should you encounter the King…you are to bring the life back to this barren wasteland."

"So how exactly are you going to fix this wasteland you call home?" Karkat asked as the small group walked through the cave. They had been following the Mayor through the system for what seemed like an hour or so.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna talk to my brother," was all Nepeta said. She sounded rather determined, too.

"That's it? My tree harvesting business is riding on you having a conversation with your brother?"

"Yep."

Karkat rolled his eyes. He stopped though, because he had nearly run straight into a small stalagmite that emerged from the wall. "So you're not afraid of him at all? Even a little?" he asked as he got out of the way. If he had kept walking, he would have lost an eye.

"Nah. Why would I be?"

"Right…" Karkat muttered as he decided to drop the subject. For a while, they continued through the cave in silence, but that all changed when they came upon a wall. With a quick inspection from Karkat, he deemed it to be safe to knock down. And he was getting impatient.

"I should have a pickaxe in that satchel. Get it out, would you?" Karkat asked Nepeta, who still had the bag.

Nepeta got the small pickaxe out of the satchel as requested, and then she started to hack at the walls. "I can do this, hang on."

"…no, no you can't. You don't know the first thing about mining."

"It hurts how little faith you have in me!" Nepeta was already short of breath from hacking at the wall several times, and she hadn't even made a dent.

"Dad could do better than you."

"No, he wouldn't, because Crabdad is a good sport and he's gonna let me do my own thing!"

"What did I say about calling him that? I swear -"

"Hey, Crabdad?" The Mayor's voice called. They hadn't noticed it, but he had wandered off. Karkat and Crabdad turned, but the golem was speaking to Karkat. "I don't know if this will help but I found a staircase that's gonna take you exactly where you want to go."

"Oh! That makes things a lot easier!" Nepeta chimed, practically shoving the pickaxe into Karkat's hands and running off after the Mayor.

When they were outside again, Nepeta found herself speechless. There was a staircase made of smooth rock, and it led up to a castle, also made of rock.

"He's in there. I know he is," she announced, walking toward the staircase and heading up it as fast as she could. She didn't want to trip and hurt her ankle even more (it was feeling much better, and she didn't want to disturb the healing), so she went up the stairs slow and steady.

Meanwhile, back at the bottom, the Mayor rushed up the stairs as well, eager to catch up to Nepeta. Karkat remained at the bottom for a little while, and he seemed to be admiring the staircase itself.

"How is this rock so smooth…?" He was interrupted because Crabdad was trying to run up the stairs himself, but he was too big to fit. It was big enough so four people could climb the stairs in a line formation all at once, but Crabdad was much too big to fit that criteria. He sunk down to the bottom of the stairs with a sad look on his face. Karkat laughed a little. "You stay down here."

He then began walking up the stairs, slow like Nepeta had, admiring the handiwork that went into the staircase's creation. He kept muttering 'how' to himself over and over.

When he reached the top, he found Nepeta and the Mayor just standing there. Nepeta had her fist raised, like she was going to knock on the stone door, but she didn't.

"Go on, knock," the Mayor said in an encouraging voice. "Knock, it's easy." He then leaned back to Karkat and asked, "Do you think she knows how to knock?"

After a few seconds of silence, Nepeta finally worked up the courage to knock. She brought her fist down on the door a total of three times, and to her surprise, the door opened by itself. As if there was some kind of force behind it, willing it to open.

"It opened. That's a first…" she mumbled to herself. She took a few steps to go inside the castle, but then noticed that Karkat and the Mayor were following her.

"Uh…can you stay out here?" Nepeta said to Karkat. "The last time I introduced him to a strange guy, he kinda killed everything." Karkat nodded, though he felt a bit hurt at her worrisome comments.

"Okay, see you later Crabdad!" The Mayor chimed, walking a little bit into the castle, but Nepeta stopped him.

"You too, Mayor." Like Karkat, the Mayor's face changed completely. Even though most of his face was covered, she could tell that he was sad at her request. "Just give us a minute, okay?" He too nodded, and went to go sit with Karkat, at the top of the stairs. The Mayor started to count the seconds, keeping his promise of waiting one minute.

When Nepeta stepped into the rock castle, the door shut itself behind her. She wasn't sure why the door seemed to have a mind of its own, but she decided not to question it.

She took careful steps in the castle, admiring all the things that were in it. There was a balcony platform that had two staircases coming off of it, and in the center there was a fountain, though it was without any water. She also saw shadows in the room, though they didn't seem to pose a threat they did make her a bit uneasy.

"Equius?" she called. "It's me, Nepeta." She kept her eyes sharp as she walked around, being careful of any stray rocks that littered the floor.

"Nepeta…?" She looked up and there he was. Her brother. He was standing at the top of the platform, right in front of a doorway that led to some other part in the castle.

"Equius!" Though he looked a little different, she knew that it was him, through and through. He no longer wore the formal attire that he wore to the coronation, he now wore a much simpler version of that outfit. It was the dark blue color that he favored, and it had earthy colors here and there. She noticed that a blue shadow was surrounding him, like she had seen when he freaked out at the party. Though, unlike that time, when the shadow was huge and threatening, now it was much smaller. It looked softer, if such a thing was possible for a shadow, and it gave off the image of a blue glow surrounding her brother.

Despite how much he had changed in the past…how long had it been? A few days? Two or three, she thought. Despite how long it had been, she knew that in front of her was the brother that she loved.

In front of her was the brother that she had to bring home.

* * *

**HA. I BET YOU THOUGHT THIS CHAPTER WOULDN'T HAVE ANY AUTHOR NOTES. YOU WERE WRONG.**  
**Ahem. Anyway. Just wanted to let you know that the scene in Frozen where the Duke is arguing with Hans makes me laugh my ass off every time. I think it's funny because the way I see it the Duke has no right to speak to Hans the way he does. A Prince is of higher rank than a Duke. Ha.**


	9. VIII

VIII.

"Equius, you look…different!" She said in surprise. "…It's a good different! And this place…this place is incredible."

"Thank you," Equius said in a humble voice, nodding a little. "I never knew the sorts of things I could do…"

Nepeta wasted no time. She went up a few of the stairs, and got to the point right away. "Equius I'm so sorry about what happened before, if I had known -"

"No, it's okay." Even though he interrupted her, it was not met in a harsh manner. He just did not want her placing the blame on herself. "You don't have to apologize for something that was never your fault. But…you should probably go."

"But I just got here…"

"You belong back in Alternia." Equius got more serious then, yet he remained calm and collected. He couldn't afford anything happening.

"So do you!"

"No, Nepeta, I belong here." He started to walk toward the railway on the platform, and he leaned up against it. "I belong here, where I am not a danger to the people."

Nepeta was about to say something, but she was cut off by the door creaking open.

"That's sixty!" came the excited voice of the Mayor.

"What? What is that?" Equius asked, confused about the new voice that had joined in on their conversation.

"Hi! I'm the Mayor and I like warm hugs!" The Mayor sang as he ran up to Nepeta. He then grew a bit somber as he looked up at Equius.

"Mayor…?"

"You made me," the golem said. "Remember?"

Equius squinted his eyes a little, in wonder. "You're alive?"

"As far as I can tell, yes!"

The king glanced down at his palms. All he had known his powers to do were destroy…but, the void had many secrets. Along with destruction, it could also create…and he had done it. He had created life, the proof was right in front of him. If he could create such a friendly spirit such as the Mayor, then…

"He's just like that little robot we built when were kids," Nepeta said, glancing lovingly at the Mayor. Even by just looking at him she could remember all the good times she used to have with her brother.

"Yes. He is…"

Nepeta looked up at Equius then, a more serious, yet sorrowful, look in her eyes. "Equius…we were so close. We can be like that again."

Equius was smiling for a moment, but the smile quickly turned into a frown and his eyes widened a little. He knew exactly _why_ that could never happen again. His eyes traveled upwards for a moment, glancing at the blue streak in Nepeta's hair. The mark of the void. "No…no, we can't. Goodbye, Nepeta." He turned to leave, and exited through the doorway, which lead to another, longer set of stairs.

"Equius, wait!"

"No, I'm just trying to protect you!"

She left the Mayor behind and began to run up the stairs. "Don't you understand? I'm not afraid of you! I don't need to be protected!" She followed him up the stairs, pleading to him to stop running away from her for the second time.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he went into another room. Nepeta followed him, telling him, "Equius, it's okay. You don't have to be afraid anymore. I'm right here for you…for real this time."

Equius turned to face her. He had a calm, yet pleading look on her face. "Nepeta…please go back to Alternia. They need you there. You have your whole life ahead of you, go enjoy it."

"Well, about that…"

"I know you mean the best," he continued, not catching what she said. "But I'm happy here. I can finally be free! There are no rules here, and if there are, I make them myself. Just…" he paused, backing up, "…stay away from me. You'll be safe then."

"Actually…" Nepeta started, now that she had a turn to speak again. "It's a bit…too late for that."

"…what?"

"Uh, well, you see…Alternia's in…" Oh, how would she word this? She had to choose her words carefully. She knew that Equius' powers were linked to his emotions, and she didn't want to make him upset. It would be like the party all over again. "Alternia's in…a bit of ruin."

"What?" Equius took a few steps closer to her.

"Yeah, uh, you kinda…did something to the soil to make it unfertile. So now, nothing can grow…but it's okay! You can replenish it easy!"

"No, I can't…I don't know how!"

"Of course you can! I know for a fact that you can!" Nepeta remained chipper, trying to keep her brother's spirits up, even though she wasn't doing a very good job. "We can go back to Alternia together, and we can figure this out!"

Equius, on the other hand, had turned away from his sister and was walking away from her. He held his shoulders close to his body, muttering things to himself. To think that he could ever be free was such a foolish idea. He was growing more and more upset as the seconds went on, and though he didn't mean it, small stalagmites started to rise from the ground.

Nepeta didn't seem fazed, though, and she just kept telling him that everything would be okay in the end. That she would help him figure out something that they could do. That she would be there for him, and she would help him in any way that she could. She did, however, notice the shadow around him.

It no longer looked like a gentle glow, it again looked like it had at the party - only, it looked worse, somehow. It looked bigger than she had ever seen it, and it was all over her brother, and heaven knows what kind of things that shadow was doing to him.

"Equius, come on! We can figure this out together!" she called to him, trying to be loud enough so he could hear her over that suffocating shadow.

"No, Nepeta. I told you I _can't_!" That was all that the shadow needed, a simple outburst. That was all the void needed to attack. A bit of the blue mass shot itself out at her, and it struck her right in the middle of her chest, causing the princess to let out a shriek of pain. It retreated back to her brother after it had done its damage.

Equius turned when he heard the yelp, and he saw his sister there, on one knee, crumbled before him. He had done something to her…he just knew it. If only he kept his emotions in check…! He took a few careful steps toward her, wanting to help her, when someone else rushed into the room.

"Nepeta!" Karkat called, rushing to the princess' side. The Mayor was right behind him, and they both helped her up.

"Who is this…?" Equius shook his head. "No, it doesn't matter. You have to go!"

"No, I know we can figure something out!"

"_How_?" The king said in a loud voice, nearly shrieking. "What sort of power do you possess that can stop this desolation? To stop _me_?"

"Nepeta, I think we should go…" Karkat murmured, looking around warily. Nepeta didn't seem to notice, but the castle looked like it was falling apart, little by little. Whatever was happening, he knew that it was not safe for them to be there.

"No, I'm not leaving without you, Equius!" She said, very determined.

"Yes…you are." Equius forced rock to emerge from the floor of the castle, and it quickly took on the shape of a golem. Unlike the Mayor, who was a small, friendly golem, this golem was huge, bigger than those spiders even. And he did not look friendly at _all_.

"Put us down!" Nepeta yelled, pounding her fist on the golem's massive hand, though she knew her efforts were in vain. The golem was carrying her, Karkat, and the Mayor out of the castle.

"Get out of here!" the golem said. She could barely make out what he said, his voice was so low. He threw them so far they landed far away from the stairs.

"Don't you know it's not polite to throw people?" Nepeta said to the golem, in as strong a voice as she could muster. She picked up a stone and was prepared to throw it at him, had Karkat not stopped him.

"Whoa there! No throwing rocks at the golem! Just leave him alone." He took her by the shoulders and tried to guide her away from the situation, but at the last second she turned back and tossed the rock as hard as she could.

It hit the golem's shoulder, and even though it didn't hurt him, it did serve to tick him off. Big time. He roared at them, jumping down to where they were.

"Great, now he's mad," Karkat muttered, sending a small glare Nepeta's way.

The Mayor hopped about frantically, trying to think of something he could do to help. "I'll distract him! You guys go!"

Whatever the Mayor was planning on doing to distract the giant golem, it obviously failed, because soon he was chasing Nepeta and Karkat again.

"What are you doing?" Karkat called as he saw that Nepeta made her way toward one of the dying trees. Because it was weak, she was able to pull it back and use it to slap the golem in the face.

"Buying us time!" She ran over to Karkat and the two of them began running again, for their lives they feared.

They managed to get away from the golem and into the caves, but the golem was following them. Luckily, because it was dark, he couldn't seem to find them.

"Hey, you guys! Where are you? We lost Rocky back there!" That was the Mayor. He was in one of the other chambers, and Nepeta hoped with all of her heart that nothing bad happened to him. The golem appeared behind the Mayor, who turned and didn't seem surprised to see him. "Oh, hi! We were just talking about you!"

The golem wasn't worried about the small one. He walked away from him, and the Mayor had to quickly duck away to save himself from being stepped on.

Nepeta and Karkat remained quiet, hoping that the golem wouldn't find them. Eventually, he gave up and headed back to the castle.

"Okay, he's gone…" Karkat said quietly, before he noticed that he had Nepeta perhaps a little too close. He scooted away quickly. Nepeta either didn't notice, or didn't mind it.

The duo made their way out of the cave, and when they saw light again, they found the Mayor and Crabdad waiting for them.

"Are you hurt?" Nepeta asked.

"Nah. That was nothing. I could have taken him!" The Mayor replied, as chipper as always.

She looked back at Karkat, and she had to shake her head to free herself from some weird trance that she was suddenly put in. "What about you, Karkat? Are you hurt?"

"No, thankfully. So, what are you going to do now?"

Oh, no. She hadn't thought about that. "What am I going to do now? He kicked me out! I can't go back to Alternia like this! Oh no oh no oh no…and then there's your business to worry about! Oh no oh no oh no-"

"Hey, don't worry about that. We'll figure something out. Instead…" he glanced upwards a bit as he spoke, breaking eye contact with her. "…worry about your hair!"

"What, my hair? What's wrong with it?"

"It's turning blue!"

Nepeta's hair was too short for her to pull it down to see, so they had to find some other manner for her to see. They eventually found a pond, and the water was just clear enough for Nepeta to glance into and see that her hair was in fact, turning blue. It had several more streaks in it, not just the one that she had had her entire life.

"It's because he struck you with his powers…isn't it?" Karkat got quiet, his voice dimming down like a dying light.

"…does it look bad?" She asked.

He remained quiet for a moment. "…no."

"Why'd you hesitate?" The Mayor added in.

"I didn't hesitate - look, we need to get you some help. I know someone who can help. Follow me." He started to guide Nepeta to where he knew that they could get some help.

"_You_ know someone?" The Mayor asked, the little golem running a little to catch up. Crabdad followed suit, a bit excited because he knew where they were going.

"Yes, I know someone! A lot of someones actually…they're my friends. And they can help her."

"How do you know?" Nepeta asked. She was worried about what might happen to her, and she was worried that Karkat's friends couldn't actually help her like he thought they could.

"Because…" he started, "I've seen them do it before."


	10. IX

**You thought I forgot didn't you.**

* * *

IX.

Equius paced back and forth nervously in his castle. He didn't know what was wrong with Nepeta when she left, but he knew something had happened to her. He knew that he had done something to her. He could only assume that it was the void…had the void done more damage to her?

"Now, about my friends…" Karkat said as they got closer to where he was taking them. The Mayor was riding on Crabdad's back, making sure to hang on tight, but Nepeta remained at Karkat's side.  
"What about them?"  
"When I say friends, I mean they're more like family…"  
"Family? Really?"  
Karkat nodded. "See…when I was kid, it was just me until Dad found me…then they took us in. I'm gonna warn you though, they can be rowdy. And pushy. And even a little rude. And loud. Very, very loud. Louder than me. And I'm pretty fucking loud. They can also be, well, uh, sharp, but you'll understand that later-" he continued rambling on and on until Nepeta interrupted him.  
"Karkat! They sound great."  
Karkat gave her a smile and proceeded to stop walking. The Mayor went to Nepeta's side as Karkat said, "Well, this is the place."  
He had brought them to a large clearing. A large, empty clearing.  
"Guys! It's me, Karkat!" He walked out into the clearing, Crabdad following after him.  
"There's…nothing here?" Nepeta murmured.  
The Mayor leaned over to her and whispered, "I knew it, he's crazy!" Karkat didn't seem to take notice to what they were saying, he just continuing calling out to his apparent family. "I'll distract him, while you run."

The small golem walked into the clearing. "Hi there, Crabdad's family!" He turned back to Nepeta and hushed his voice again. "Because I love you Nepeta, I insist that you run." This went on for a few more minutes, the Mayor saying nice things out in the clearing, but then turning back and trying to convince Nepeta to run.  
And she felt like she was about to, too. But then she heard a voice.

"Karkat? It's Karkat!" And out of what was left of the forest, came out someone who appeared to be human, but at the same time…did not. Last time Nepeta checked, humans did not have gray skin. Or horns.  
"A troll…?" she muttered to herself while she watched the scene in front of her.  
Several other trolls emerged from the forest, and they all surrounded Karkat and started to talk to him. They all spoke excitedly about how Karkat was home, and even the Mayor joined in, even though he was a little confused about why they were referring to him as Karkat, saying "Wait, Karkat?" "Vehement, where's Timorous?"  
"She's out gathering what herbs she can find. Why?"  
"They're trolls!" Nepeta chimed out, happy that she finally understood what was going on. The trolls all turned at her voice and when they saw her, they got even more excited.  
"He's brought a girl with him!" One of the trolls, a man said. He had short black hair like most of them did, and his horns slightly resembled those one would find on a sheep, though they had spikes jutting out of them. He was the one Karkat had called Vehement. The troll hurried over to Nepeta and dragged her into the circle. He stood her next to Karkat.  
"What's going on?" Nepeta asked, suddenly feeling a little cautious. She didn't know these trolls, and even though she felt like she could trust them, she still felt like she should be on guard.  
"Just go with it," was all Karkat said.  
Nepeta nodded, albeit slowly, when she felt something nipping at her feet, and when she looked down she found…some kind of bug-looking creature. It had a hard orangish shell like a bug, and six legs like a bug, but it didn't have a bug face. It had a face like any of the other trolls.  
"Oh, that's little Tavros. Go ahead, pick him up!" Vehement said to her, in an encouraging voice.

Though Nepeta was a bit freaked out by what was going on, she still picked up the bug-like creature. According to Vehement, his name was Tavros. She scooped him up of the ground, being careful to mind his horns, which were like a bull's.  
"Hello. My name's Nepeta," she said in a soothing voice, trying not to scare the little creature. She assumed that these bug looking creatures were baby trolls…somehow. The books she read as a child didn't go into very much detail about the trolls.  
"Lusii like Dad take care of the babies," Karkat said to her. Yes, she remembered reading about _that_ in the books. That book also told her that lusii were practically extinct. What other lies did it hold? "This little guy is one of those babies. The trolls call them grubs," Karkat said to her. It was like they weren't being watched by a few dozen other trolls. "If I remember right, Tavros here has a fairy bull for a lusus. Don't know where he is though."  
"He's probably with the other lusii, Karkat," Vehement suddenly said. "All of the lusii are taking a well-deserved break. We're taking care of the grubs for them."  
"Oh…well, that's pretty interesting, actually." She glanced down at the grub that she held. He stared at her with big, curious eyes before his nose crinkled. He let out a tiny little sneeze. A very adorable little sneeze.

"Oh dear. Looks like Tavros is allergic to you!" Vehement said jokingly, taking Tavros from Nepeta and passing him to another troll, who proceeded to take him away from the crowd. "He probably just got dust up his nose. No biggie. Now then, let me look at you." He took hold of Nepeta's shoulders, looking straight into her eyes. He had to lean down a little, as he was a few inches taller than her. "Bright eyes, strong jaw…you look like a pretty healthy human! Yes, you'll do nicely for Karkat!"  
"Wait, no, that's not why I brought her here!" Karkat protested.

"Wait, what? Oh, no that's not why I'm-" Nepeta was interrupted by the troll, who looked her in the eye again.  
"What's wrong? Is Karkat not your type? Well I'll have you know that you won't find another human for a thousand miles like Karkat! He's just about the sweetest human I've ever met!"  
As if on some sort of cue, some of the other trolls started to pitch in compliments in Karkat's favor. They all pretty much said the same thing that Vehement did, but they used different words. Saying that even though he had a rough exterior, he was the complete opposite, deep down.  
Karkat raised his voice so he could be heard above them. "Okay, that's enough." His face was flushed, and Nepeta let out a little giggle at the sight.  
But the trolls seemed to ignore him. Vehement started talking with one of the other trolls, a taller one with eyeglasses on and horns that made somewhat of a hook shape at the tips. She thought she heard the word 'marriage' in their conversation…  
"She is engaged to someone else!" Karkat yelled, apparently he could hear the trolls talking as well. But they continued to ignore him. Instead, Vehement dragged Karkat away from Nepeta, and the other troll dragged Nepeta in the opposite direction.  
"Alright dear. Call me Virtuoso," the troll said. He wore simple clothing like all the others, but his clothes had lines of a bright pink color sewn into them. Seeing dyed fabrics made her think about Duke Ampora. Was this troll of a high status as the Duke was? Nepeta was brought out of her thoughts because the troll, Virtuoso, started to speak again. "Now then, could you please tell me the moment you realized your feelings for Karkat? And could you also tell me why you are holding these feelings back? Are you afraid of rejection?"

"It's not like that-" Nepeta started, but Virtuoso cut her off. Karkat wasn't kidding when he said they could be rude…  
"There is no use in denying it, sweetheart. I know a lie when I see one," the troll said, winking at her. The action oddly reminded her of the boy that she had met a few days ago, in the shop…that was also where she first met Karkat. "Okay, I'll fix you up now. Just hold still!" He, as well as another troll, placed a large robe on Nepeta. A robe that was covered in flowers, and it seemed to be completely made out of grass and plants. They must have made this before the accident happened. They also slapped a crown on top of Nepeta's head, and Virtuoso pushed her back into the center of the group, where she was met with Karkat.  
The trolls had dressed Karkat in a similar manner, only he had a crown that was a bit larger. They were pushed together and forced to meet in the middle. Virtuoso was there again, and he had a book with him.  
"Do you, Princess Nepeta, take Karkat -"  
"…what?" Nepeta piped up.  
"…you're getting married," Virtuoso said plainly, like it was common day knowledge that everyone should know.  
Nepeta was about to voice another protest, but she was suddenly hit by a strange wave of pain that would have made her fall to the ground. Luckily, Karkat was there to catch her. More blue streaks coated her hair, and she was struggling to stand on her own. She was growing weaker, and Karkat was growing more worried. Whatever her brother had done…they had to fix it, and now.  
A female troll pushed her way through the crowd. She carried an aura of power, of someone that should be respected. She had a small sack with her, and if this troll was who Nepeta thought she was, then it had herbs in it, if she could find any. "There is dangerous magic at work here…" the troll muttered.  
"Timorous," Karkat said, in acknowledgment, confirming Nepeta's suspicions.  
"Bring her here to me, Karkat."  
Karkat did as the sage ordered, and Timorous took Nepeta's hands in her own. She studied her hands for a moment. "The void has been here…" She turned then, back toward the crowd. "Dextrous! Dextrous, I need you!"  
Within seconds, another troll appeared. He wore a gray cloak, but it had a strange symbol on it that was the same blue as the streaks in Nepeta's hair, and his horns jutted out of skull, in a backwards motion. "What has happened to this girl?"  
"I was hoping you could answer that." Timorous stepped out of the way so she could let the other troll do his work.  
Dextrous took a closer step to Nepeta, and he looked her in the eye just as Vehement had earlier. "You are the Princess of this land, are you not?"  
"Yes…" Nepeta said. Even her voice, usually full of energy, sounded so weak.  
He took her hands in his, and studied them just as Timorous had not even a minute ago. Though he seemed to be studying them more intently, even flipping them once or twice. "And has your brother revealed his powers to you?" Her eyes widened slightly at the troll's words. She didn't even mention having a brother, or that he had powers. But, she nodded.  
"I see…Nepeta…your life is in grave danger." He ran a finger over her palm. "There is a fracture in your heart, placed there by your brother. It will create a void so strong…this void will consume you until you can no longer stand…if you do not get it removed, rock solid will you become," he warned. His voice carried a very ominous undertone.  
"Can you remove it, Dex?" Karkat asked.  
"I can't…I'm sorry, Karkat. My specialty may be the void, but I can't lay a finger on a heart. Only an act of true love can fill the void inside," Dextrous said.  
"Like a true love's kiss!" Vehement called from the crowd, receiving a glare from Timorous.  
Karkat then got an idea. He scooped Nepeta up in his arms, and she was took weak to protest. "Nepeta, I'm taking you back to Gamzee. Thank you, Dextrous, for your help."  
The troll bowed his head at Karkat, who had boarded his lusus. It had been a while since he went anywhere on the back of his lusus, but it would have to do.  
"Gamzee…yeah…" Nepeta muttered.

"Hooray!" The Mayor cheered. He had climbed up on Crabdad's back too. "Let's go find Gamzee! …who is this Gamzee?"

* * *

**I think the song Demons by Imagine Dragons could be a good theme song for this fic. What do you think?**


	11. X

**'_They say it's what you make, I say it's up to fate  
_****_It's woven in my soul_  
_I need to let you go_'**

**Woo, that is such a good song.**

**We are getting closer and closer to the end of this fic. If anyone pays attention to my profile, I have put up that the last chapter with be _XII_. So, still have a little time. I haven't even finished writing _XII_ yet, so I don't know how that's gonna work out.**

* * *

X.

Gamzee, meanwhile, was no where near the town. He and the other men had reached the castle, and the prince stared up at it suspiciously. He was sure that the runaway king was here, but he wasn't concerned with him.  
"We're looking for Princess Nepeta, and Princess Nepeta only. Not one motherfucking ounce of harm is to come to the king," he said to his tiny army. "Do you all understand that?"  
The men all chanted out various forms of yes, but the Duke's bodyguards did not. They looked at each other for a moment, knowing what they had to do.

Gamzee dismounted his horse and took a few steps toward the castle, his hand holding onto to the reigns tightly.  
But then, all of a sudden, the large rock that was by the stairs seemed to come to life out of nowhere. Gamzee knew it to be a rock golem, and he figured that it probably was some sort of guard. He took out his sword, ready to fight the monster. The horses had run off, but at the moment he didn't care.

They all tried their best to fight the golem, but their sword slashes were not really doing anything, and half of the time they couldn't even get close enough to get a good hit. The Duke's guards tried shooting arrows from their crossbows at it, but the arrows bounced off of the golem effortlessly and only served to make him mad. The golem whacked the two of them with his hand, causing them to be blown back.  
The guards were gathering their bearings and were about to stand up, when they looked behind the golem, and, through the stone door, they saw King Equius there, wondering what all of the ruckus was about. He shut the door quickly, worried that he had been spotted.  
"The King!" one of the guards shouted, and they both grabbed their crossbows and ran behind the golem and up the staircase. Gamzee saw them, but did not pursue them.

Equius knew those men were coming into his castle. He ran up the staircase that would take him to the upper level, and when he heard the door being forced open, he only quickened his pace.  
"There! He's up there!" The guards were making their way up the stairs now, and Equius could feel the shadow of the void closing in around him. If he was scared, the void matched his emotion, and it became scared to. But it would protect him...and that was what he was afraid of.  
The guards cornered him, and there was no way out.  
"No," Equius said in an almost pleading voice. He knew they had the intention of harming him (they did have weapons with them, after all), but he was more concerned about what he would do to _them_.  
One of them tried shooting an arrow at him, but the shadow of the void quickly went to work. It moved in front of him with lightning speed, and it seemed to swallow the arrow up, as when it moved away, the arrow was gone. Equius was only momentarily fazed. The void continued to surprise him.  
"Stay away from me!" The king pleaded. He used his powers to force stalagmites out of the ground, hoping to scare the guards away. These efforts were in vain, because they just kept running around the stalagmites, but every time they tried to fire and arrow at the king, he forced another one out the earth.

Gamzee narrowly dodged being stepped on by the golem. He swung his sword at its foot, and by some bizarre miracle, his sword managed to slice the foot of the golem clean off. The golem stumbled a bit.  
While the golem was stunned, Gamzee called out to the other men, saying "Come on!" He then started to ascend the stairs, and when the golem finally did fall off of the cliff, it was determined to take Gamzee with it. It made one last strike at the prince as it fell, destroying a bit of the staircase in the process. Gamzee was hit only slightly, but he almost fell. If he didn't grab onto to the staircase, it would've all been over.  
With a roar, the golem fell down into the abyss of whatever was below the caves system. A few of the men rushed over to help Gamzee up, and after he was back on his feet, they continued on their trek into the castle.

It was at that moment that Equius decided that enough was _enough_. If they wouldn't leave of their own will, he would have to force them. He cornered one of the guards up against the wall, using the stalagmites to pin him by his clothes. One of those stalagmites was dangerously close to his throat, and it seemed to be growing bigger, getting even closer.  
As for the other guard, Equius let the void handle it. He shot a blast of the void at the guard, and it surrounded him, growing large enough so that it enveloped his entire body. He dropped his crossbow in confusion, wondering what the king was doing to him. And then he realized that he couldn't breathe. The shadow of the void was literally suffocating the man by destroying any oxygen that was around him.  
Gamzee rushed into the room, and he quickly took note of the situation at hand. One of the guards was this close to being punctured in the neck, and the other was being suffocated by some sort of strange shadow.  
"King Equius!" he called, hoping that he was loud enough to get said king's attention. "Don't be the wicked beast they fear you are!"  
At that, Equius turned and when he saw Gamzee, his entire face changed. Instead of vengeful and anger, he now looked apologetic and shameful. He recalled the shadow of the void at once, and he glanced at his hands. He was _that_ close.  
The guard who was currently incapacitated by stalagmites saw an opening. He raised his crossbow with all the strength he could muster, and he aimed right at the king. Gamzee noticed what the guard was doing. He rushed over to him and forced his arm into a different direction, throwing off his aim. Instead of hitting Equius, the arrow hit the chandelier that he had put in the room the first night. As if by some force of fate, the arrow hit right at the structure that held the chandelier, and Equius, with frightened, wide blue eyes, looked up and saw that it was heading right for him. He ran out of the way, and just as the chandelier hit the floor, he tripped and he must have hit his head because he blacked out.

The next time Equius woke, he had no idea where he was. He sat up and looked around. It looked like he was in a jail cell of some sort, which meant that they had brought him back to Alternia. There was a window in the cell, and he tried approaching it, but something held him back. Glancing down at his hands, he saw that they had put shackles around them. Not ordinary shackles, though, these shackles were designed to be like mittens. They were made of steel, and they were connected to a chain that ended in the middle of the cell. They were designed to try and keep his powers under control, but these people had no idea exactly what the void was capable of.  
Equius was close enough that he could see out the window. He saw the barren wasteland that had once been his home. "No," he said in a hushed tone. He had done this.  
He was startled when he heard the cell door opening. When he looked toward it, he saw that it was Gamzee who had entered the room.  
"Why did you bring me here?" Equius asked.  
"You expected me to just let them end you?" Gamzee retorted, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He was trying to lighten the mood, even just by a little, but he wasn't doing a very good job.  
"I am a danger to Alternia, I cannot be here." He glanced down at his shackles. They put these on him because they were afraid of him. And they were afraid of him because of what he had done, and that only served to prove his point. "Get Nepeta."  
Gamzee crossed his arms. "Nepeta hasn't come back." Equius then glanced out the window again, as if he would be able to see her through such a small window to the outside. "Look, if you would just end this. Bring the life back. Please."  
The king turned back to him. There was a somber look in his eye, and he looked like he would've cried, but both of the royals knew that such a thing was not going to happen. "Don't you understand? I _can't_." Gamzee's face took on a complete look of disbelief. Equius had explained it to Nepeta, but he would not explain it to the prince. All he knew was that he would not be able to pull off such a feat. "You have to tell them to let me go."  
Gamzee looked at Equius then, and he sighed. "I'll do what I can."  
He then exited the cell, locking it behind him. Equius, meanwhile, was just staring out into space, at the spot where the prince once was. There was nothing he could do. He had ruined Alternia, and he could only hope that Gamzee would be able to convince the others to let him go. After that, he wasn't sure what he would do…hopefully Nepeta would be able to figure out some way to fix the damage he had caused, and then she could rule over Alternia. He was a horrible king, and she would be a much better queen. A queen that Alternia deserved, and one that it needed.

He looked down at his shackles again, noticing the small cracks that were appearing in them. The shadow moved and quickly surrounded them, the void going to work right away, trying to destroy what held him captive.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Nepeta asked as Crabdad slowed down. She assumed that they were almost at the castle. The Mayor had vanished, claiming that he would meet them there, but he was no where to be found. Karkat warned him to stay out of sight, but, knowing the Mayor…

"Don't worry about me," was all Karkat said. He lifted Nepeta up and started to walk toward the castle doors, which were being opened because apparently a guard had seen them approaching.  
"Princess Nepeta!" Rowena exclaimed out of pure shock. Karkat placed her on the ground gently, snaking one of her arms around Rowena's shoulders so she could support her.  
"Make sure she stays awake. And get her to Prince Makara, immediately." It felt odd giving orders to someone such as Rowena, but Karkat wasn't going to let that fracture in her heart even think about growing. That void would _not_ have her, and he'd be damned before he let it.  
"I will," Rowena nodded before she started to walk off back into the courtyard. "Thank you." The gate started to close then, the gatekeepers behind them nearly screaming at the site of the princess.  
"Make sure she's safe!" he said just before the gate closed all the way.

Nepeta looked back just before the gate shut completely. She saw Karkat. She saw the look in his rusty eyes.

When the gate was shut, Karkat just stood there for a moment. He hadn't really expected them to let him in, and he was happy that they put full attention on Nepeta. They would find that Gamzee guy and everything would be okay. She'd be okay. She would get married to that guy like she wanted to, and she would be happy and she would never stop trying to bring her brother back and now that she knew the way through the caves she didn't need him anymore.  
She didn't need him anymore. Karkat gave a smirk and a weak laugh when he remembered that one of the first things he said to her was accusing her of not being genuine, because no one ever does anything "just because". It was funny how much of a hypocrite he could be. He had done his part, and there was nothing else he was able to do. He held up his end of the bargain, but he felt…well, he just felt plain awful about leaving her there without even knowing for sure that she would be okay.

It would be alright though. Nepeta would be okay. She would be happy with whoever that Gamzee guy was, and she would find a way to get her brother back and then her life would be just full of sunshine and rainbows and she would forget _all about him_.

Crabdad stared at the gate with a longing look in his eyes. When Karkat started to walk away, he looked to him and then back at the gate. He let out a little shriek of protest, but Karkat just kept going. He shrieked again, a little louder this time, but he was ignored once more.

The crab beast eventually gave up, but every so often he looked back at the castle. He glanced at Karkat, wondering what exactly was going on with the boy that he found in the woods all those years ago.

_I did not raise you like this_.

* * *

**'_Your eyes they shine so bright, I wanna save that light...  
I can't escape this now, unless you show me how_' **

**Wow I love that song so much. I am tempted to make a comic or something for that song with this fic...  
And yes, that is Crabdad's thoughts at the end in italics.**

**Oh! I have a question for you lovely readers.**  
**Would anyone like it if I wrote a Homestuck au (again with meowrails) for the movie _The Iron Giant_? I haven't seen that movie in a while though, so it would probably be a little while before the fic actually got published. I've also been rewatching Total Drama Island...and that's giving me ideas...**


	12. XI

**In this chapter we have the first apperance of a new character. His name is Shrith, and his creator is Spy of Infleunce. I must say, he was quite the interesting character to work with...**  
**anyways, this is the second to last chapter. The finale is almost finished, I have literally ten more minutes of the movie to write...**

* * *

XI.

Gamzee was pacing back in forth in a room that served as a meeting type of room for the castle. With him, there were two representatives from another land. Duke Ampora would have been with them as well, but he was currently taking care of his guards, who had deliberately disobeyed the orders of the prince.

The first was a taller man, who had short black hair and bright green eyes. He was a Count, so he felt a little out of place with all the people of higher status in the room, but when he was offered the chance to travel to this fair land, he almost jumped for joy out of excitement.

The second representative was a Marchioness, she was a short woman with long black hair that had a flower clip in it. She was here to discuss a possible alliance with Alternia, should there ever be any conflicts, but now she found herself deeply worried about the state that the land had been plunged into.  
"I have to go back," Gamzee declared, heading toward the door. "Got to find her."  
"No, you can't!" The man, Count Shrith, went into action right away. He took Gamzee by the arm. "Your Highness, if anything were to happen to you-"  
"If anything happens to _Nepeta_-!"  
"If anything happens to the princess, you are all this land has left," the woman, Marchioness Alcina said, in the calmest tone she could muster. That caused Gamzee to settle down, and he looked down at the floor for a moment, as if mulling things over.

Shrith heaved a sigh. That was one disaster stopped. For now, at least. How long would it be before the prince went on another rampage, so desperate to go find his princess?

Just then, the door opened and Rowena entered the room, and she had Nepeta with her. But something was wrong. Nepeta looked…well, she looked terrible. She looked very frail, like she could break at any moment, and her hair had almost completely been covered with blue.  
"Nepeta!" Gamzee called, his eyes wide. What had happened to her?  
Nepeta tried to hop out of Rowena's grip, and she landed right into Gamzee's waiting arms. "What happened-"  
"Gamzee, you have to kiss me right now."  
"What-?"  
The air in the room had suddenly become awkward, at least for the other three in the room it was. The Count and the Marchioness left the room, or rather, Rowena forced them to leave the room. Rowena only left when she was sure that Nepeta would be safe. That didn't stop the wary glance she sent Gamzee's way, though.  
"Equius- he struck me with his powers- and-"  
"You said he'd never lay a finger on you." Gamzee said, picking Nepeta up and placing her on one of the loveseats. "I was wrong," she said somberly. "He fractured my heart and now-" her words were quick, forced, as if she couldn't get them all out in time with one breath. "Now only an act of true love can save me."  
Gamzee's eyes went wide again when he realized what she meant. "A true love's kiss." He said nothing more, taking Nepeta's chin in his hand and leaning in so he could kiss her. She shut her eyes, her heart beat increasing at the perfect moment. Just as he was about to kiss her…he stopped.  
He made a 'pfft' sound. "Oh Nepeta. If only some poor motherfucker out there loved you."  
Nepeta's eyes opened so fast it hurt a little. She was left there, in shock, as Gamzee stood up and started to walk away from her. "Gamzee…? You said that you did."  
Gamzee had started to move over to the window. "Had to do something. Finally realized what that something was after all these years. Kurloz can have Gaudium, I said. Not like Dad ever paid attention to me. I had no chance."  
"Gamzee," Nepeta said, in a pleading voice. She taught he was just messing around like that goofy type of person he was, and messing around was not something that needed to be done right now. She tried to stand up to walk over to him, but because of her frail condition, she couldn't muster up the strength and merely fell to the floor.  
"Knew I had to do something. Had to…find my own place in some other throne. Came to this land cause the king's getting sworn in like he's a soldier or some shit. Then, whad'ya know, I meet you." He closed the curtains. No witnesses to the horror that was soon to come. He turned to face her, taking a few steps toward her, circling around her, like he was taunting her. Like an animal taunting its prey just before making the final strike. "You, so willing to marry me just like that. You, who had a brother just waiting to snap. You, who was dumb enough to go after him. You, who's dying right here and now."  
"Gamzee." Nepeta did not want to believe what was going on in front of her. This wasn't happening. This was all just a dream. Yeah, that's it. It was all just some weird dream. But, deep down…she knew it was true. She knew everything he said was true.

She knew that it was all a lie.

Gamzee knelt down and looked her in the eye. She was about to slap him, but he caught her by the wrist. His grip was strong, much stronger than she had ever felt. Even though it hurt, she would not give him the pleasure of seeing her express any signs that it did.  
"All that's left to do is kill your precious brother and bring the life back to this wasteland," he said, letting her go, practically throwing her arm.  
"You're no match for Equius," Nepeta said as best she could. She struggled to speak and this only served to amuse Gamzee further.  
"No. _You're_ no match for Equius," he paused, standing up. "I am the messiah that will save Alternia from utter desolation."  
He began to walk toward the door, off to the dungeons.  
"You won't," Nepeta began, "you won't get away with this."  
Gamzee looked back just before he left. A giant smirk on his face, he said, "I already have."

Once he had shut the door behind him, Nepeta tried her hardest to get over there. But because of her condition, it was more like awkward limping and crawling. She tried opening up the door, but just like she thought, Gamzee had locked it. She sunk to the floor and curled up into a ball, her hair turning completely blue.  
What was she going to do now?

"The reserves are running out," Duke Ampora said. He had joined back up with Shrith and Alcina in one of the small dining rooms. "If we don't do something now then we'll start dropping like flies."  
Shrith was going to offer up some kind of suggestion, but he was interrupted before he could even begin because Gamzee had entered the room.

The three nobles could tell that something was wrong right away. The prince had a very defeated look on his face, and his eyes looked like the eyes of a dead man.

"Princess Nepeta…is…dead," he finally said. His tone was clear, yet his voice was shaky.

Eridan let out a gasp of "what happened?" before leading Gamzee to a chair that Shrith had pulled up for him. Eridan, Alcina, and Shrith all surrounded him, though they gave him space.  
"She was…murdered. King Equius did this."  
"Her own brother…?" Alcina muttered, not wanting to believe it. It was a very gruesome idea to think about, and she didn't like it one bit. She didn't know very much about the King, she had only spoken to him briefly at the coronation party, but he didn't seem like the type who would…

"We at least got to say our vows," Gamzee paused. "Before she all up and just…died in my arms."  
"There is no mistaking it now." Eridan turned to Alcina and Shrith. "King Equius is a monster, and we are all in grave danger. He must be stopped."  
"Prince Makara…" Shrith said in a calm voice. Though he would have loved to go hunt down the King himself, he had to let the Prince decide what to do. "We all look to you, as does Alternia."  
Gamzee looked up. His eyes were cloudy, as if he would start crying at any moment. He made direct eye contact with all three of the nobles before he spoke, "Then I...with a heavy heart, I charge King Equius of Alternia with treason. And I sentence him to death."

Equius looked around his cell with a worried look on his face. Something was wrong…the void was acting up, the shadows were all around the room, trying to destroy what it could so that it could provide means of escape. Even though he did wish to get out, he still felt…_off_. He didn't know what was causing the distress, but it only served to make him more nervous than he already was.  
He heard voices outside, and he knew that there were guards outside of his cell. He pulled at his shackles - they were significantly worn down because of what the void had done to them - and they were close to breaking apart, but still they held strong.

"Be careful, he's dangerous," he heard one of them say. They tried opening the door, but the void kept it shut tight. Still they tried, and Equius knew that they would eventually overpower the shadow, so he knew that he had to go _now_.

He pulled at the shackles again, trying desperately to get them off. If he could just get even one of his hands free…if he could only do that, he'd be able to free his other hand easy before he destroyed the wall, finally being able to escape.

The guards had finally gotten through the door, nearly kicking it down. A beam on the ceiling collapsed, and it would have crushed them had they not gotten out of the way just in time. Gamzee pushed his way through them, and discovered that Equius was nowhere to be found. Instead, the wall was torn down, and the shackles were on the ground, split apart.

This...this was what the void could do. It was nothing but destruction, and if the king's actions at the stone castle didn't show that, then now he was truly convinced. With Equius gone, he would have to go after him. He knew what the void could do; it could destroy, it could kill, it could do anything that Equius wanted it to do.

And Gamzee would not underestimate it again.

Karkat was walking at a slow pace back to where the trolls would be waiting for him. Out of everyone, he knew they would be the most upset at the news that he had just…left Nepeta. Crabdad was a few paces behind him, walking even slower than he was.

Crabdad stopped, taking one last look at the town. He could just barely see the castle. It just…wasn't right. He looked back at Karkat before letting out a huff. He ran in front of him, and shrieked at him.  
Karkat hadn't even voiced a question, just a simple, "What, Dad. What is it."  
The crab beast clicked his claws at him, taking a few steps toward him. Karkat backed up, a bit startled. "Hey, watch it! What's the matter with you?"  
Crabdad shrieked at him again, louder this time.  
"You know I don't understand you when you talk like that." But Karkat, and he was sure Crabdad knew as well, knew that he was lying to himself. He understood his lusus perfectly fine, thanks to the bond that the two of them shared.  
_I did not raise you like this!_

_You are going to let her go just like that?_

_The boy I found in the woods would never have acted like this!_

Crabdad went up right next to him and picked him up, earning a yelp from Karkat. "Hey! Put me down!" and when he did, he shrieked at him again. _Go. Back._

"No! We're not going back! Not now, not ever!" Karkat wanted to drop the subject, but Crabdad persisted.

_And why not?_

"She's with her true love, dumbass." The crab beast gave him a look with all four of his eyes. Karkat knew what that look meant, and he got a sad look on his face before he sighed.

_Is she?_

He was about to say something else, but then a strangely strong wind got his attention. "What the hell…?" Out of reflex he looked back, back to Alternia, and he saw…he saw a giant, blue shadow surrounding the town. It was the same color blue as Nepeta's hair had been turning, and that only served to send Karkat's instincts into overdrive. He knew at once something was wrong.

Something was wrong. Nepeta was in danger, and he had to go back.

* * *

**I liked writing the parts with Crabdad yelling at Karkat. Very enjoyable.**


End file.
